Finding
by Dante-apollyon
Summary: Colin and Tory are walking home from the library and Colin has finally confronted him. What will happen? Where will this lead the two? My version of OffBeat Volume 2. Chapter 16 posted! [multichapter ToryxColin realistic language]
1. Finding

**Finding**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own OffBeat, the great Ms. Jen Lee Quick does. If I did, I would have put out volume 2 by now. One year is just too long to wait for the first OEL shounen-ai to continue.

**Summary:** Colin and Tory are walking home from the library and Colin has finally confronted him. What will happen? Where will this lead the two? My take on OffBeat Volume 2.

**AN:** This is based on and after the first volume of OffBeat so you probably shouldn't read it if you haven't touched the series. There will be Tory/Colin pairing later on so if you don't like malexmale get over it. It's good stuff. I present my first fanfic for your approval. Enjoy.

**Side Note**: I have been trying unsuccessfully to post this since the first OffBeat fanfic was up... I hope it didn't lose any of its novelty in the last month : Please review.

**Rating: T **(K+ for this chapter I suppose)

**Chapter 1: Questions**

"Why are you always around?" Colin asked Tory still out of breath and shivering. "What are you trying to do?" Colin looked up, using Tory's shoulder for support, and locked straight onto the redhead's eyes demanding an answer.

_Crap… _Tory froze not sure how to respond, not even sure what was going on himself. All the while some part of him wanted to stretch this moment out and admire Colin beautiful face and enjoy the contact of Colin's hand on his shoulder. _Wait, what am I thinking? I'm not here to act like some lovesick teenager. Lovesick? This was all for research. That's it, research. Colin is hiding something big and I'm not going to give up until I figure out what. That's why I spent the last five hours tutoring him. That's why I'm walking him home._

"Tory?" Colin's dark eyes inquisitive. He wasn't sure what to make of the silence or the gambit of expressions crossing Tory's face, but he had to make on thing clear.

"Colin…I…" Tory stammered. Colin stood up straight and backed off a few steps from the redhead still struggling to regain his breath.

"Look it really doesn't matter. I want you to stay away from me, understand? Just leave me alone." Colin heaved wearing a stern, cold expression as an even colder gust blew. _This isn't good. _Colin thought._ At this rate I'm going to have a relapse right out in the street. Right in front of Tory...again. Garrets is going to have a fit over this one. I don't know if I can keep him from getting involved this time._

"Look, you can barely stand. You almost hit the pavement a second ago. I'm obviously not going to leave you here." Tory wore an expression just as stern. This was just stupid now. "So you're hiding something, fine. I'll let you keep your secrets," Tory lied, "just let me help you get home."

Colin was taken aback by Tory's directness. He knew, though, he did not have much of a choice. As it stood, he was not in any position to try to walk home alone and he didn't have a phone. Colin silently cursed his weakness, "Fine." He looked up again at Tory, his gaze wondering to the unruly red locks ruffling in the gentle breeze. _Why did he care? What was he trying to achieve? No matter what I say, he never gives up and he seems to always be around._

"Thanks." Colin forced out. His breath was becoming shallow now. He needed to rest.

"No problem." Tory smiled forcing back a blush. Colin was always having that affect on him. "Do you want to sit down for a sec?"

"Oh, um, yeah. I just need to catch my breath," came Colin's exasperated replied. "You really shouldn't get involved you know," Colin repeated taking a seat on a brownstone stoop. _Tory…I don't want you to screw up your life because of me._

Tory ignored him taking a mental note to remember every word until he could write it down in the notebook waiting in his backpack. This was as open as Colin has ever been with him, ever, and he still hadn't said much of anything yet. Tory decided to try to keep him talking, but the moment was too shy and awkward right then so he just took a seat next to the raven haired beauty and looked out at the sunset.

Colin looked out as well satisfied that he was starting to recover. Lots of things were running through his head then, foremost was how he was going to handle the situation when he got home. Dr. Garrets had clearly ordered him not to tangle himself in things like friendship. Ever since his parents died, though, he had become increasingly lonely. Now that Tory made it clear that he wasn't leaving, he had to know. "So why are you always around? You never answered." Colin said and noted the uneasiness that immediately washed over Tory features.

Tory thought for a moment and decided to be honest. "I was just curious about you…at first."

Colin was surprised. _So he _was _spying on me all this time. Well I figured as much, but why?_ "And now?"

Tory watched the darkening yellow-orange clouds and played back the last few weeks in his mind. He had been digging deeper and deeper in Colin's personal life always finding more questions than answers. No matter how hard he tried to satisfy his curiosity, Colin would throw an even deeper enigma at him, _daring_ him to solve the great mystery that was Colin Stevens. Why was he always around? No the real question is why did you just collapse and what the hell is this Gaia Project?

"Boredom, you're more interesting to keep tabs on than TV I guess." Tory offered a smile. He had stopped short of admitting how much he had dedicated the last few weeks to the sole purpose of stalking the poor guy. Even changing schools and arranging this whole tutoring fiasco, but Colin didn't need to know that.

Tory decided to use this opening dig a little more. "By the way, are you sick? You were like this in school the other day."

Colin shook his head. "Lets go." _Phew, I think I can make it home now. It didn't get as bad as I thought it would. _Colin thought and examined the boy sitting next to him. _How can I make it clearer that it's not worth it to get involved with me? He's just curious anyway. It's not like he really cares about me or anything. I need to focus on school and science. Anything else is unnecessary._

The redhead sighed and offered Colin a hand up. "Are you sure? I'm just asking 'cause I'm worried you know." It was the truth. Whatever this thing was, it seemed to be having a very negative effect. Beyond curiosity, Tory was worried that Colin might be in some kind of danger.

Colin contemplated that taking the hand. _Could he be telling the truth? Does he really care beyond curiosity? Probably not, no one has so far. Besides, it doesn't matter. He needs to stay away for his own good._

"Let it go…please. I'm fine." Colin begged and Tory did, for now.

"Do you want me to help you?" Tory offered an arm and a shoulder.

"No, I'll be fine," came Colin's quick agitated reply though he was still clearly struggling. _What does this guy want, really?_

"If you say so…" Tory winced at Colin's harshness deciding to give the boy his space.

The pair walked home in silence. Tory occasionally stole glances at Colin who was deliberately and intensely focused forward not opening any room for small talk. Reaching Colin's house first, Tory offered to help him up the front steps to which he was again refused.

Getting ticked off now himself, Tory huffed to his own brownstone and through the front door. _Who does he think he is? I don't care what's going on; he didn't have to be so rude. All I was trying to do was help him._

Tory walked past his mother in the kitchen without noticing. "Hey Tory, everything alright?"

"Yeah mom" He wasn't about to explain what just happened.

"You sure? Give me a kiss." Tory obeyed giving her a soft peck on the cheek. "You know if anything is wrong you can tell me," her concern genuine and loving.

Tory relaxed a bit. "I know mom, everything's fine. You don't have to keep worrying about me; I can take care of myself."

"Oh I know sweetie, it's just I wish I could spend more time at home with you. I feel like we don't talk enough. How was the library?"

Tory rolled his eyes. "Boring honestly, just talked about physics for hours. I'm going to go drop my bag and stuff in my room."

"Alright sweetie, dinner'll be ready soon."

"Alright." Tory's mother turned her attention back to what she was doing and Tory headed to his room.

Tory remembered that he needed to write what happened down while it was still fresh in his memory. _OK, what did I learn? _Tory pulled out his notebook and pencil and stared jotting down his notes feverishly. _He wore a jacket indoors and he passed out when it got a little cooler outside, which probably means his sickness or whatever is temperature related. Hmm, he likes turkey sandwiches. What else? _Tory thought on the conversation they had. Colin had started to warm up, even thanking Tory for staying with him. As soon as Tory asked about his sickness, though, he shut him out again. Tory gave himself a mental slap for that one. _Well alright, he's already made it clear that he's sensitive about that subject or he's hiding something or both. Unfortunately, now I've admitted that I'm watching him so it's going to be harder from here on out._

"Tory! Someone is at the door for you!" Tory snapped out of his thoughts. _Who could that be? Paul would just walk up to my door. _

"Coming!" he shouted back.Tossing his notebook aside, he walked towards the front door.

"Hey." Raven locks and an all too familiar face greeted him in the living room.

"Colin?"

"Yeah, I need to tell you something."

**AN:** And so I finish my first fanfic chapter ever. The three day waiting period has given me some time to lengthen the chapter and make some adjustments. Please review. Chapter 2 is well in the works already. I'll update when I can.


	2. Friendship

**Disclaimer:** Miraculously, I still don't own OffBeat. Go figure.

**Summary:** Colin and Tory are walking home from the library and Colin has finally confronted him. What will happen? Where will this lead the two? My take on OffBeat Volume 2.

**AN:** And for your reading pleasure, I humbly submit chapter two of Finding. Enjoy!

**Rating: T** (still hasn't deserved it yet. These two are like oil and water.)

**Chapter 2: Friendship**

"Hey." Raven locks and an all too familiar face greeted him in the living room.

"Colin?"

"Yeah, I need to tell you something."

Tory glanced at his mother's curious expression and frowned. Whatever Colin was about to say, she didn't need to hear it. "Mom, this is my, er, friend Colin. He was one of the guys I was tutoring at the library." _Colin is in my house. In my living room. Meeting my mom._

"Nice to meet you Colin." Tory's mother beamed, silently celebrating that her lone wolf was making friends.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Blake." Colin offered politely, if a little distractedly.

"Um, we can talk in my room if you want to." Tory led him. _What_ _is going on? _This was unexpected to say the least. Odds near zero. "You can sit on the bed." Colin took a seat on the bed and Tory settled into his desk chair closing the door behind him. So, uh, what did you want to tell me?"

"Listen, about this evening… Sorry about that. I know you were just concerned. I realize that." Colin's apology met astonished deep green eyes. Colin continued, "Tory, I've been keeping my distance from you guys for a good reason. Just trust me, you should stay as far away from me as you can."

Tory then realized his notebook laying open inches from Colin hand and nearly had a heart attack. _Oh hell, this won't end well. I'm not thinking straight. I shouldn't have even brought him into my room in the first place. What's going on here? There is something I can't explain, something that I don't understand. _Tory looked up at Colin gaze and immediately blushed heavily. _Whatever I do, I have to keep his eyes on me and off that notebook. Colin, in my room, on my bed, talking to me, but…why wont my lips move? Why can't I look him in the eye? _"Um…hey, do…um…you have to be completely alone? I…mean, um, you can have friends at least right?

Colin didn't know what to make of what he was witnessing. Come to think of it, every time he looked directly at Tory, Tory turned a shade of red and looked away. _Almost as if… no that's silly_. Colin caught himself staring and looked away himself. Colin had to admit, that Tory was somewhat good-looking, even attractive. He had a lean body, auburn hair, green eyes, and a cute face made even cuter by that expression of nervousness. No wonder Mandy was always following him around, but now was he asking to be his friend? "What makes you think I'm all alone? Why are you so interested?"

Tory shrugged. "I don't really know. It's just natural I guess. No offense by the way."

"Well, I guess to be honest; I don't really have any friends. And yeah I want to, but…" Colin trailed off. _Having friends with all that's going on wouldn't be impossible, just _complicated.

"Yeah you told me, fire and brimstone if anyone gets too close." Tory sighed remembering what his friend Paul had told him. The Gaia Project was very confidential. It was too deep and dangerous, he had been told, for him to keep digging in to.

"If you know that why do you keep pursuing it?"

"I don't know. Certain doom never really impressed me much." Tory noticed his own nervousness subsiding a bit. He was more relaxed now. "You know, you can open up whenever you're ready. I'm here for you man. You can tell me anything. Don't worry either, I can keep a secret."

"Tory." Colin held back tears. The pain of being locked up inside himself for so long caused a rush of emotions.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." _Dr. Garrets is going to have a fit over this if he finds out._

**Knock. Knock.**

"Hey what's up man?" It was Paul through the door. Here to mooch off dinner no doubt. _Perfect. Awesome timing Paul._

"I'm going to go." Colin got up and headed to the door.

"Oh, okay, see you at school?"

"Uh, sure." Colin opened the door muttered a 'hey' to a surprised Paul and disappeared out the front door.

"Don't you dare say anything." Tory cut Paul off who was clearly waiting to say something clever.

"Heh, I see you've been busy. Poor guy." Paul was clearly amused with how flustered Tory was getting.

"Paul!" Tory warned.

"Hey don't worry man, I'm just here for some of your mom's grub."

"Mooch." Tory huffed.

"So what did I miss?"

"Your butt out the door. Go home Paul." Tory half joked. In truth he was a little relieved that Colin had left. Something was too unsettling about the whole thing. Well at least he hadn't seen the notebook.

"I told you, not until I get some grub."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Monday. Crap. The day when the whole world is forced to remember why they celebrate Friday. Tory played his mp3 player on random on the L-train and tried to take his mind off Colin but it was futile. That unsettling feeling had matured in full grown butterflies that were determined to fly about his stomach. If the commute did anything, it gave Tory time to think and daydream.

"_Tory. Save me." A scared Colin was strapped to an examining table pleaded. "Only you can save me." _

"_Colin! Hold on, I'm coming."_

_An evil Dr. Garrets complete with a hooked mustache appeared brandishing a fencing sword. "Mwahaha, no one can stop me! Prepare to die Sir Blake."_

"_I will defeat you. I'm going to save him"_

"_Mwahaha, you will try." The doctor thrusted his sword at Tory who blocked with his own. Tory returned with a high slash that nicked the evil doctor. "What? How dare you!"_

_The doctor gave another hard thrust to which Tory spun around to evade. Seeing an opening, he gave a thrust of his own, piercing the doctor's chest. "No, It can't be! How could I have been defeated?" The doctor dropped to the floor in a fit of drama._

_Colin beamed, "you saved me, I knew you would. How can I ever thank you?"_

_Tory sheathed his sword and untied the restraints. "There's no need, I would climb the highest mountain, dive to the bottom of the deepest ocean, and fight a dozen dragons for you."_

"_My hero!" Colin jumped up and embraced Tory. "Give a kiss oh brave knight." _

Tory snapped out of his fantasy. _A kiss?_ Tory looked around the train nervously as if he had been caught with his pants down.Sighing at himself, he picked a track on his player and turned up the volume to drown out the world and his troubling thoughts.

Mandy greeted him as he arrived at the school. It still perplexed Tory how Mandy always seemed to find him. Even more than he ran into Colin, Mandy was there. Tory found the pretty blond uninteresting and far less intelligent than himself, which frankly annoyed him. Tory had to admit, though, that she had a good heart and here she was, waving him over to her two friends.

The redhead walked up to the group. "Hey," Tory offered.

"Hey, thanks so much for tutoring me last Saturday. I feel like I really caught up thanks to you!" The blond exclaimed.

"No problem, its just natural that I should offer my excellent physics skills to those who need help." Tory pulled his trademark, I'm-so-much-better-than-thou line.

"You're so civic-minded Tory!" Mandy exclaimed.

A bell rang. "Well, I'll see you later ladies." Tory was just about ready to bolt from the blond ball of empty headedness.

"Bye Tory! I have a student council thing so I won't see you in physics today. Tell Colin I said hi."

Tory nodded absently and walked towards his locker. Colin. He had almost managed, for one moment, to forget. It was almost like the raven haired boy was haunting him now. _What is going on here? It was a simple investigation. When did I let it become the main, no the _only_, focus of my life? I'm going to go crazy at this rate._ Tory clenched his fist "That's it. Time to settle this." Tory declared out loud to no one.

"Settle what?" Came a voice from behind him. Dark brown eyes and a curious expression met Tory's startled gaze when the redhead turned around.

Tory found himself and quickly got over the surprise of running into the object of his obsession. "This. Time to settle this." Tory placed his hands on the raven haired boy's shoulders. Colin, surprised by the contact, stared into Tory's mesmerizing deep green eyes unknowingly entranced by the redhead's unfamiliar expression and not sure how to respond. _Might as well get this over with. _Tory thought as he leaned in for his first kiss.

**AN:** Well there ya go. I hope you liked. Please review and depending on what I get, I'll update. Just a shout out to my readers: Thank you for reading/enduring my first fanfic. I just hope that I'll improve with time.


	3. And Love

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately I couldn't finish the deal to buy OffBeat before I posted this chapter. Lucky for you Ms. Jen Lee Quick still owns it. That or Tokyopop, who knows how those contracts work.

**AN:** Usually, it's not uncommon to shift the point of view in these stories, but because Ms. Jen Lee Quick follows Tory through the entire book, I will try to as well. You're going to get tidbits of Colin's thoughts, but not much else. Please review. Reviews are what keep me going. 

**Respect for my reviewers: **

**Ros**: Thank you so much. I'll have you know that just because you were my first review and it was so positive, I started this chapter.

**Wonder1440**: Thanks as well, that was a little embarrassing. It's all fixed now.

**Mintgreentea**: Who knows what volume two is really going to be like. I just hope/wish that they become a little closer than friends before the last volume. Thanks for the review, here's chapter 3.

**Chapter 3: And Love**

Two sets of lips met and for an instant the rest of the world melted away. Tory flushed. His heart rate went through the roof. _It feels so perfect. Like my life was waiting for this moment._ Then all of a sudden, the world came crashing back like a train wreck.

"Tory, what the hell? Get off me!" Colin snapped out of whatever hold Tory had over him and shoved the redhead off him into his own locker. _What the fuck? Who told him he could kiss me? In the middle of the hall for that matter._

"Colin, sorry, I…" Tory wasn't sure what to say and all the while, the inevitable crowd of onlookers was starting to gather around them like vultures drawn in by the shouting. Angry, ashamed, hurt, sheer panic? Tory didn't know which emotion to lock onto at that moment. He just wanted to disappear and fast and so he ran. He shoved past the crowd and ran out the school doors kept running until he couldn't run anymore. Out of breath and already halfway to the train station, he collapsed onto a bus bench.

"What am I doing?" Tory asked no one watching the clouds. "I probably shouldn't have just kissed him like that, but I shouldn't have run away either. I'm being so pathetic. Ugh." Tory flipped over on the bench and contemplated the sidewalk for a while. "I like him. I like him a lot," Tory finally admitted to himself clearly for the first time. "I've been so caught up in him I never let myself realize that. Some genius I am." _Four seconds. That's how long the kiss lasted. Did Colin lean in too? I can't remember perfectly but I think he did. Maybe he felt the same way I felt but just got scared. Maybe I'm just hoping for the best. Oh well, what's done is done. In any case I need to go back to school. _Tory pulled himself to sit up on the bench. _…Like hell. I'll chill here for a little while. Its not like missing one class is going to matter all that much._

After some internal debate, Tory started walking back to school slowly. _I wonder if they are all talking about it. I think the hall was kind of empty when…um 'it' happened. Not that I was paying attention all that much._

Tory reached the school grounds all too soon and sighed.

DING DONG DING!

"At least my timing is still perfect," Tory quipped and bended into the masses filing into the halls and headed to class.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hey Tory!" Mandy called out bright as always.

"Oh, hey Mandy," Tory offered back as he stuffed his trig book in his locker.

"Want to go eat lunch?"

"Oh, um, sure." Tory didn't know why but he was starting to appreciate Mandy's company. He had been anticipating seeing Colin in class after lunch all day and it was starting to stress him out. _At least Colin doesn't eat lunch normally so I'm not going to run into him in the cafeteria. _Thankfully, he hadn't heard anything about the 'incident' from anyone all morning. He was starting to relax a bit as he got his food and sat across Mandy in the cafeteria.

"So I heard you kissed Colin." Mandy said nonchalantly before taking a bite of her chicken flavored tofu.

Tory suddenly felt sick. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Colin." Mandy took another bite of tofu and chewed it.

"Colin told you? When?"

"Yeah he told me when I ran into him earlier," Mandy offered a smile. "He looked stressed out. It's true right?"

Tory was thoroughly confused. _Why don't I ever understand what's going on?_ No point in denying it though. "Yeah its true. Who else knows?" 

"I haven't told anyone, I figured you wouldn't want me to. I don't think Colin's been spreading it around either."

"Really? Thanks, but why don't you think so? He told you didn't he?"

"Yeah, but when he did he seemed really stressed out. He asked me to keep it a secret. Also, I think he wants to talk to you." Mandy was all smiles now.

"Ugh. Perfect." Tory huffed failing to see what was so great.

"You like him a lot don't you."

"Yeah. Maybe. I don't know. I'm so confused." Tory put his head down.

"Well you can talk to me if you want to. I figured you liked him for a while now you know." Mandy didn't like seeing Tory so down.

"Hey Mandy, hey, um, Tory?" Mandy's friends brought their lunch and sat with the pair.

"Hey." Mandy and Tory returned.

"Hey Mandy did you hear what Sarah wants to do with the food drive?"

"Yeah. I thought it was awful! Mandy we should stand up to her!"

The girls chatted for a while about the student council, boys, class, and their weekend while Tory counted down the minutes to physics. Inevitably and all too soon the bell rang and it was time to go.

"I'll see you later Tory." Mandy waved.

"Aren't you coming?—Oh. Oh yeah that student council thing. See yah later." Tory headed back towards his locker.

"Hey Tory!" Mandy called back.

"Yeah?"

"Good luck." Tory nodded and blushed at this and headed to his locker.

Physics, for the most part, was actually pretty uneventful. Colin was a few seconds late so there wasn't any chance for them to talk before class. Tory noted that that was unusual. During class, Tory managed to glance back at him a few times to which Colin returned his emo-no-emotion- stare. By the end of the class, Tory was finding the whole thing kind of silly. He could almost laugh… almost; and when the bell rang he simply got up and confronted Colin.

"Hey Colin."

"Listen Tory."

"Before you say anything, I'm sorry that I did that. It wasn't appropriate and it won't happen again. I think I just went crazy for a moment." Tory couldn't read Colin's reaction but he felt relieved. Nonetheless, he braced himself for Colin's reply. After a short awkward pause, it came.

"Tory, you kissed me because you like me didn't you?" Colin's stare was dead serious.

Tory felt the blood rush to his cheeks and looked around to see if anyone was in earshot. The room was almost empty. "Listen, it wont happen again. You don't hafta worry." _How does this guy stay so dead cool when he says stuff like that?_

"Tory, you didn't answer my question. Actually nevermind, the answer is obvious. Listen, I'm sorry I pushed you. You just kinda took me by surprise." Tory couldn't understand what he was hearing. He wasn't sure what Colin would say, but he was pretty much sure it wouldn't be an apology.

"Oh, well um, its okay. It was probably a good thing considering we were in public." Tory offered a lighthearted smile.

"Listen Tory, I was thinking. I was trying to understand why you were always being so friendly to me when no one else was. You always ran into me, and you were always around and you never gave up no matter what I said or did. Everything you did was confusing to me and now it makes sense. And you know what I figured out today in class when you kept looking at me? I think its kinda cool that you like me." Colin was now smiling himself.

"Really? D-does that mean you like me back?" Tory asked then silently cursed himself for sounding like a shy eight year old. _He's so beautiful when he smiles. Ack, Tory,what are you thinking. _

"Maybe, I really don't know...Maybe." Colin answered and to Tory's astonishment, he could see a blush forming on the boy's cheeks. _Colin is blushing? _

DING DONG DING!

"Oh crap, that's the late bell." Tory said wishing the moment hadn't been broken to suddenly. "So I'll see you later then?"

"Sure, see yah."

Tory practically bounced to his next class._Things are going to get very interesting. _

**AN: **There's Chapter 3 of Finding. This particular chapter is a little short, but I thought I hit a good stopping point. Currently this is the longest OffBeat fan fiction running and also the slowest building (gotta keep 'em somewhat in character you know). Now that they are all friendlylike, though, you can expect their relationship to pick up a bit. Please review. Reviews are my motivation and my muse. 'Finding friendship and love.'


	4. Tory's Heart

**Disclaimer: **You know I keep writing these just cause I see other people doing it. Is it really necessary for every chapter of the story? Oh well here goes: I don't have enough money to survive being sued by Tokyopop and Ms. Jen Lee. Quick to not give them props for actually owning these characters and OffBeat which I do not. Or do I:evil grin:

**AN:** Thank you to all my readers and all my reviewers. I wasn't sure I'd continue this story, but today I opened up a word document and the story just started spilling from my fingertips and before I knew it, I had gone 7 pages. I hope you enjoy.

**As always, here's respect for my reviewers:**

**Kumagorox3:** You just wait, you ain't seen nothing yet.

**KyonKichi89:** Thanks for the compliments. You just wait; chapter five will be something to look forward to.

**Rating: T** (Maybe that will go up in the near future, maybe not. We'll see.)

**Chapter 4: Tory's Heart**

Tory couldn't figure out his math homework. This was a first for him. Usually he finished his homework in no time and way before the deadlines, but as he sat at his desk and tried to concentrate, the formulas drifted away into daydreams of things that had been and could be.

Tory had never been in a relationship before especially with another boy, though he still technically wasn't in one yet. He definitely had no idea how to handle it. _A boy. Does that make me gay? Gay? _The word startled him. Just like every kid growing up, the word gay became synonymous with everything wrong and weird. Basically everything you didn't want to be even if it didn't specifically refer to two guys in love.

Tory got up from his desk and looked at himself in a face mirror on his wall. "Gay." Tory tried out the word. He had a hard time accepting it. Not only was the word taboo, he was referring to himself. Thoughts raced through the young teen's head. _Am I gay? What does that even mean? Is it just when boys are attracted to each other? Am I really like that? Have I always been? _He tried to remember every crush every interest he had had growing up and tried to reconcile with himself the feelings that he had for Colin. Thinking, Tory hopped on his bead, pulled out his notebook and turned to a blank page.

_Okay there was Sarah Higgins in the third grade. She kissed my cheek on the playground during recess. _Tory wrote down the name in the margin and thought about how the kiss made him feel. _Well it surprised me, and it gave me a kind of spark being a new experience and all. I don't think I really enjoyed it though. Whatever I was a little kid._

Tory ran down the list making notes for every one. When he was done, he found that there were more boys than girls on his list. The list composed of nothing more than innocent experiences, but he noticed none of the ones that he initiated were with the girls. Exasperated, Tory lied down.

"So what does this mean?" Tory asked his notebook. "I can't be gay. No way, mom would never accept this. St. Peter would throw me out if they knew. Colin and I are going through a phase and we are all mixed up, that's all there is to it. Maybe I should get some distance between us before this complete throws my world off-balance. Maybe I shouldn't think about it anymore for now. " But Tory couldn't will the thoughts away and he knew it. Soon, though, he started drift to sleep.

_The sky was dark. Everything was dark. Angry clouds loomed overhead obscured an indistinguishable landscape in deep shadow._

_Tory was running. He didn't know why but he had to get away. He wouldn't dare look behind him, but he knew that he couldn't stop no matter what. Soon, in the distance, he made out the figure of a young boy lit by a dazzling aura of milk white. As Tory got closer he forgot whatever he was running from as he was drawn in by the mysterious figure._

_As soon as he got close enough to see the boy, he was started. It was the image himself at about ten or so._

"_Don't be afraid." The boy said._

"_I'm not afraid." Tory responded puzzled._

"_Why were you running then?" The boy asked, his face emanating omniscience, innocence, and purity all at one._

"_I don't know why. I don't know, but I'm scared. What if I can't get away once it catches me?" Tory said, sudden frightened again as he felt a presence behind him._

"_Its here. Will you run away or will you face it? That's your choice, but you won't be able to run away forever." The boy said smiling._

_The presence felt closer and closer and closer and Tory felt the urge to run building, but he resisted. The boy smiled pleasantly at him._

"_Ready?" The boy asked._

"_I…am" Tory said and suddenly the presence wasn't so ominous anymore. Tory turned around to see a warm smile and raven hair. His arms outstretched._

"_Tory, I love you," were Colin's only words and Tory ran into the open arms and let them engulf him. Every worry faded away and the sky opened. Tory noticed the boy was gone, but it didn't matter. He had Colin and that all that he needed right then. Soon the sun shown through the sky and revealed a lush green meadow filled with wildflowers. It was the most beautiful sight Tory had ever seen._

"_I wish this moment could last forever,"_ was the last thing Tory remembered as he woke up, stirred by the sound of his mother coming home. Tory was somewhat disturbed by the vivid dream, but he was more overcome by the sense of peace he had experienced.

Tory grabbed his notebook to the page he made notes in before his nap and wrote down his dream before he forgot it. It was against his custom to write his own feelings and emotional experiences down, but he felt that this time he needed to. When he was done he looked at the page he had filled and thought of a title. 'Tory's Heart'; he wrote down and closed the notebook. The redhead sighed at himself and got up to greet his mom.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tuesday morning, Tory felt oddly out of sync. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours that it was hard to reconcile that only one day out of the week had passed. Normally he would spend the time on the train listening to music, but today he was rushing to finish his trig homework. Despite himself, he was happily anticipating the new day. He was ready to take it on…that as soon as he could figure out the trick for solving #27.

When he got off the bus he hummed softly to himself while he walked to the school.

"Hey Tory!" It was Mandy. She was smiling brightly.

"Hey Mandy." Tory responded. He was happy to see her and he wasn't sure why at the moment.

"How did stuff go with Colin?" She asked.

_Oh right, she's the only one who knows I like a guy, besides Colin of course. I have to admit, confessing it to her felt good. _"I don't know how to explain it. I think he likes me."

"Really?"

"Well he said maybe. Anyway he wasn't freaked out about the kiss so at least that's all good."

"So Tory, how do you feel?"

"Good. You were right, I do like him. I can't wait to see him today." Tory smiled openly. _I wonder why I'm not apprehensive at all. I wonder what changed for me._

Tory walked to his locker and opened it still beaming.

"Fag." Tory flinched at the source of the voice and looked around for its source. It was a kid he recognized, but wasn't sure from where. He was a medium sized guy a little taller than Tory with short black hair and a red and gold blazer. From what Tory could judge, he was probably in the same grade as him, but he could have been older. The guy was snickering at him.

"What do you want?" Tory gave a hard stare and tried to act tough, though he knew he wasn't going to win a confrontation if it got physical. The guy looked somewhat built…at least more so than Tory and Tory hadn't ever been in a fight

"Don't talk to me queer-bait, just turn around." Tory flushed angry.

"Fuck you."

"What did you just say?" The guy shoved Tory back into his locker.

"Leave him alone. You're always such an asshole Jeremy" I was Mandy. _Oh yeah, this is the guy who shoved Colin the other day._

"Fucking faerie, you need a girl to stand up for you. You're such a wimp, just stay out of my face fag." Jeremy smirked. It was all Tory could stand. He shoved Jeremy as hard as he could and was about to deck him when a teacher came by and pulled the two apart.

"Both of you cool it." The teacher said. His voice stern, commanding. Now calm, Tory was cursing himself for being in this situation. _Great now I'm probably going to get suspended over this asshole._

"He just shoved me all of a sudden. You saw didn't you?" Jeremy gave the teacher his most innocent sincere look.

"That's not true! Jeremy started it." It was Mandy again. Tory couldn't bring himself to say anything in his defense. He was still reeling from what had just happened. It hadn't been a day and already he was getting crap. Furthermore he was probably going to get suspended over it. It all seemed surreal.

"Look I don't care who started it, I'm taking both of you to the dean's office. Go to class young lady." The teacher roared and led the two away.

The deans office was well decorated. It was filled with plants and pictures and had a big window with a view pleasant of the schoolyard. Besides the immense feeling of authority radiating from the room, it was actually pretty nice. The dean herself, though, looked like she'd eat you alive if you didn't keep watch. She wore a stern look and had a large body seemed to fill the room. Being here was definitely not a good feeling for Tory. He had almost never been in trouble. He still couldn't believe what was going on. The teacher was just explaining that the two of them were about to start fighting and he had broken the two of them up.

"Thank you Mr. Peters, go ahead and return to your class, I'll take care of these two. So what's your version, Mr. Richards?" The dean asked Jeremy.

"I was just talking to him and he went ballistic. He shoved me and was about to punch me." Jeremy was playing innocent again. It was getting to Tory.

"Just look at him, he's full of crap." Tory blurted out.

"Watch your language Mr. Blake."

"Sorry ma'am, its just that he's not telling you the truth or the whole story. He called me…a name and he shoved me before I did anything. That's how all of this started." Tory could see Jeremy tense up.

"What did he call you?" The dean asked.

"A f-fag." Tory could barely get it out.

The dean turned to Jeremy. "Is this true?"

"Yeah I called him a fag, but look at him! He is one. I saw him kissing another guy the other day." Jeremy spat out.

"Tory, is this true? Were you kissing a guy?" The dean visibly grimaced in disgust.

Tory didn't know what to say. He wasn't going to risk getting kicked out of school for this, but should he just flat out deny it? Unfortunately the long pause gave it away.

"This is very troubling Mr. Blake. This is a very prestigious private school we don't allow that kind of behavior here. I'm giving both of you an internal suspension for the rest of the day. I hope this will give you some time to think about the consequences of your actions. Both of you." Tory was reeling. "I will be calling both your parents about this issue."

"No, please don't." Tory begged.

"No? I'm afraid it's school policy."

"You can tell her about the fight, but please don't tell her about that _other _thing." Tory was pleading."

The dean looked at him hard and long. "Well just make sure I don't hear about any more _incidents _in the future. Both of you are to report to the detention room immediately." The pair was escorted to the detention room by a burly school security officer.

Tory put his head down and felt like crying. _Why did this day have to go so wrong?_

Jeremy watched him. _I have to admit; this is kind of messed up_, Jeremy thought.

"He dude," Jeremy whispered, "I'm sorry." Tory didn't respond. He didn't care that that asshole had to say.

The rest of the day crawled by at an agonizing pace for the redhead. When the day was finally over, he was thoroughly ready to go straight home and forget this nightmare. That's when he saw Colin waiting outside for his guardian to pick him up. _I should just stay away from him. No good will come of this. _Soon, though, his hormones got the best of him and he walked up to Colin.

"Hey." Tory said.

"Hey. I didn't see you in class," Colin eyes were sad, but then again they always carried a hint despair.

"Oh, um, I was suspended."

"You were suspended?" Colin was surprised. "Why?"

"Fighting…and kissing you." Tory told Colin what happened.

Colin's eyes went wide. The thought of Tory suffering pierced his cold glare. "That's pretty bad. I'm sorry you had to go though that."

"Me too, to be honest." Dr. Garrets' car drove up to the curve.

"Well see yah." Tory said, his sadness clearly showing.

"Wait. You want a ride?" Colin asked.

Tory perked up. "Would that be okay?"

"Dr. Garrets, can we give my friend a ride, he lives across the street." Colin asked his guardian.

"Colin, you know that…," The doctor saw an expression of pleading that he hadn't seen since Colin in some time. _This friend of his must be special to him_. "Fine." Colin smiled and leaned up from the car.

"He says its fine. You can hop in the back seat." Tory climbed in and the drove in silence for a while. _So I finally get to meet this Dr. Garrets guy. I better not slip up. I don't know what he'll do if he finds out I'm onto this Gaia Project thing. Wait, what if he already knows. Crap, what am I getting myself into. _Then he remembered Colin. _Colin seemed concerned for me. He showed more emotion and was more animated back there than I've seen him all year. I don't think he's lead me into a trap. I don't know why, but I trust him._

"So what's your name?" Dr. Garrets asked Tory.

"Tory. Tory Blake."

"Nice to meet you Tory, you can call me Dustin."

"Nice to meet you sir--I mean Dustin."

"So how do you know Colin?"

Tory considered his answer. "He's in my Physics class, I also tutored him and my other friend last Saturday."

"So, how's he doing? He grades have been slipping this year. I been trying him to get back on track."

"It's not like I'm not trying to do all I can." Colin huffed.

"He's caught up now. He should do fine on the next test. He catches on really quick. He's really smart sir--I mean Dustin." Tory said smiling for the doctor's benefit.

"That's good. It sounds like you two are good friends."

"Um, yeah I guess. We haven't been hanging out all that long."

"Well as long as he keeps up is grades, I don't want him to fall behind."

"That reminds me. Tory, can you tutor me tonight? I need help with the impulse stuff." Colin asked.

Tory couldn't say no. "Sure no problem."

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. When Colin and Tory were walking to his house Tory asked "I thought you said you were fine with impulse. You said it was the only part you got off the bat."

"I get it, I just needed an excuse…. I wanted to tell you something" Colin was starting to feel the blood in his cheeks.

"Oh. What is it?" Tory suppressed his imagination's version of what was to come.

"I figured out that really do I like you Tory and, um, I wanted to try kissing again." Even better than what Tory's imagination came up with.

**AN:** And so ends a relatively long chapter of Finding. Colin is slowing maturing into a human you'd want to be in a relationship with. Hehe. Please review and tell me how you liked it. In this chapter, I decided to do what most female yaoi/shounen-ai writers can't. That is draw from real life experiences! Or rather, write with the perspective of an actual teenage boy. For some reason I started writing and just couldn't stop after experiencing a mild writer's block after chapter 3. Again I hope you enjoyed. Much love to the OffBeat fangirls..and boys.

Finding Friendship, Love, and Tory's Heart


	5. A Start of Something

**Disclaimer: **To whoever feels the need to sue me, my name is Insert the name of your local representative here and I'm also guilty of destroying America if you're interested. If you _really_ want to sue me, just read my last four disclaimers. Nothing has changed.

**AN:** Here we are, Tory and Colin are about to dive into uncharted territory. While you read, please remember that this and other fine products are brought to you by the great people at PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you and enjoy.

**Respect for my reviewers:**

**xXInu-SamaXx: **Thanks for the awesome review. Yeah I'm going for a more down to earth story. I'm glad you liked it!

**Rating: T** (I wonder how far I can go with 'T')

**Chapter 5: A Start of Something**

Colin entered Tory's living room and took a seat on the couch. Thankfully, Tory knew his mom wouldn't be home until much later. She was working pretty late since her firm was working on a new project and she would be doing overtime all week. Tory glanced at the phone. The answering machine blinked red indicating a new message. Scrolling through the caller ID, he found that the school had tried to call twice. _She's going to kill me when she gets home._ Tory sighed and joined Colin on the couch.

"What are you going to do about it?" Colin asked and Tory noticed that he had edged a little closer to him.

Despite himself, Tory's heart started to do overtime. "I don't know, I guess I'll just tell her what happened and hope for the best. I still can't believe I lost my cool like that. Something really triggered me when I remembered who the guy was." Tory said.

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno, when Mandy said Jeremy's name all that ran through my head was images of him shoving you and when he kept saying stuff I just lost it. This really sucks, my mom is going to kill me." Colin wanted to make everything right somehow. He could see how much Tory was suffering, not just with this, but everything that was going on. He just wasn't his bright self anymore.

Colin moved up next to Tory and leaned on him. "Tory, it's going to be alright, don't worry about it." Tory blushed and flinched at the contact.

"What's wrong?" Colin asked.

"Nothing, it's just that you are usually so…I dunno…distant I guess. I…uh…really like when you're like this." Tory turned red as Colin gave him a sweet smile.

"You ready for that kiss?" Colin asked. Tory looked into the raven-haired boy's gorgeous eyes and nodded. Shyly, Tory leaned in and met Colin's soft lips with his.

The contact was electric. Nothing Tory had ever seen or heard about love could have prepared him for this. Tory's body was reacting to it all. He had never felt this way, his body was taking over and before they knew it the soft kiss had developed into a deep embrace as the two boys explored each other's bodies with their hands. _He smells so sweet and his body is so soft and warm. _Tory thought as he moved his hand along Colin's back. _And this kiss. It feels so good. _Feeling Tory's tongue begging entrance on his lips, Colin let him in. Tory entered slowly taking in every sensation as he explored every crevice of Colin's mouth. _Oh god, he tastes so sweet. No one said kissing would be like this._ The pair of tongues danced and explored and took in everything they could of this new experience, but all too soon the kiss was done and the two lips parted leaving the pair gasping for air.

"That was amazing!" Tory exclaimed still flushed and out of breath.

"Yeah, it was." Colin admitted softly.

"You want to do it again?"

Colin gave a smirk. "Definitely" Colin replied. The two cuddled and kissed for what seemed like hours. The rush of sensations and emotions had been too much for the two and they were spent. Exhausted, but content, the couple lay silently arm in arm in the couch and enjoyed the gentle intimacy.

"Hey, Colin?" Tory whispered as to not break the delicate beauty of the moment.

"Hmm?"

"You want to tell me what your big secret is. You don't have to if you don't want to, I'm just worried that you're getting hurt is all." Colin looked into Tory's face searching for his answer_. I can't do that to him. He doesn't deserve to get caught up in my mess. _Colin saw Tory's worried, loving expression and felt a pang of guilt. _I've been so selfish. I knew that I shouldn't have gotten involved with him. I just ignored all reason and got myself into this and for what? So I can see someone else's life get destroyed? _Colin realized that for the first time, he wished he had never gotten involved with the Gaia research. _Tory, you mean a lot to me._

"Tory, I can't." Colin started.

"You don't have to protect me you know." Tory said. Colin didn't respond. "Could you at least tell me that you're okay and you aren't getting hurt?" Colin remained silent and Tory's heart broke. He held Colin tighter. "If there is anything I can do, just ask okay? I'm here for you. Anything."

Colin sighed, "Thank you. That means a lot to me." Colin gave Tory a sweet soft kiss on his cheek and Tory blushed. "So what are you going to do about your mom?" Colin asked eager to change the subject.

"I honestly don't know how she'll take it," Tory answered and ran his hand through Colin's hair.

"The fight or, um, this?" Colin asked almost purring to Tory's gentle touch.

"Both. I don't really think I can separate the two. "

"Yeah I guess not, good luck then." Colin thought a second. He didn't feel satisfied with just having said that. "If you need to talk to me or anything, you can call." Colin got up and grabbed a pen and the message pad from the phone table. Tory instantly missed the contact of his warm sweet Colin.

Colin jotted down his number. "I have my own line so don't worry about calling me anytime." He handed the paper to Tory.

"Thanks." Tory wrote his number on the bottom of the message paper and tore it off to give it to Colin. "You can call too. I don't have my own line so if my Mom answers, just ask for me. Though you might wanna wait till I see how she handles this first."

Colin sat back on the couch and snuggled with his Tory. Just then Paul came down the stairs no doubt looking for some food. Colin sat up instinctively.

"Hey Tory." Paul called. Paul noticed Colin on the couch and smirked to himself._ Perfect, _Tory thought,_ that moron is going to say something stupid. I just know it._ "Hey, I remember you from the other day. I'm Paul." Paul extended a hand and Colin shook it.

"Colin. Nice to meet you."

"Sure man. Hey Tory, your mom said to order Chinese tonight, she left money on the counter." Tory was surprised that Paul hadn't teased him. _He's being pretty cool _Tory thought.

"Colin, do you want to stay for dinner?" Tory asked.

Colin checked his watch, "No, I better go before Dr. Garrets gets worried." Tory noted how Colin still referred to the man by such a formal title. Not even Dustin as the man had told him to refer to him as.

Tory frowned. "Well okay, I'll call you tonight. See yah."

Tory walked Colin to the door. "See yah Colin." Paul yelled after them.

"Bye," Colin called back, and then whispered, "Thanks for the kisses, we should do it again sometime."

"You know it." Tory watched Colin leave. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and went back inside his house. Paul was smiling mischievously at him.

"Go ahead and say it Paul."

"Say what?" Paul asked innocently.

"Whatever you were going to infer about me and Colin, just spit it out and get it over with."

"Infer? There's nothing to infer. 'Thanks for the kisses.' It's really quite sweet." Paul made a mushy face and then laughed. "I'm happy for you man. At least you wont be stalking him anymore." Tory flushed embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

"You heard that? Whatever. What you want for dinner cause I know you're going to be eating most of it anyway freeloader."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Later that night, Tory sat on his bed and replayed the events of that day. So much had gone on in such a short space of time. If he had thought yesterday was eventful, today was Mardi Gras, Cinco de Mayo, and the Forth of July all rolled into one.

Tory pulled out his notebook and opened it to the section he had labeled 'Tory's Heart.' He wrote down as much he could of his feelings and experiences with Colin as he could remember. His habit of making notes of everything was having benefits. There they were, all of his feelings, for him to analyze and make notes on.

He remembered Colin's response when he asked about the secrets he was keeping and how he could sense that the raven-haired boy was on the verge of retreating again. _If I ever had a reason to find out what this Gaia Project was, now I do. I'm not going to stop until I know what is causing all this pain for him. _Tory decided to confront Paul again tomorrow. He had a reason now, whatever the danger was; he was already involved with Colin now and that wasn't going to change so it didn't matter. _Even if he doesn't help me, I'll find out about it no matter what._

Tory heard a car drive up to the brownstone and park. _Crap, mom's home. _Tory rehearsed a few possible ways to break it to her but none of them seemed adequate. Tory had to admit he was afraid. He already decided to tell her about his feelings for Colin, but he was afraid of what her reaction would be and more than that he was afraid of ruining the relationship he had with his mother. _It's just her and me and she's all I have right now to lean on. Maybe I shouldn't say anything. _Tory remembered the way the dean had threatened to call his mom and tell her. _No, she needs to hear it from me or she's going to hear it eventually from someone else. No way to avoid that as long as me and Colin are together and there's no way I'm going give that up._

Tory got up, took a deep breath, and headed to intercept his mom before she listened to her messages. He felt like he was walking the green mile.

"Hey Tory sweetie." Tory's other beamed and hugged her son.

"Hey mom." Tory wore a stricken face.

"What's wrong, honey?" Tory mom was worried. This wasn't her bright and cheery Tory.

"I…I got in trouble in school today." He began, watching the floor. "For fighting, they gave me an internal suspension."

Tory's mother was shocked. "What? Why were you in a fight? Are you hurt? I've told you; just walk away if someone bothers you."

"I know mom, I'm fine, but that's not all." Tory was fidgeting now.

"What is it?"

Tory didn't know how to begin so he just decided to spit it out but his throat wouldn't make a sound. _Just do it, _he told himself. "I…."

"Yes Tory, you what?" Tory mother was scared. She didn't know what in the world could be going on. She suddenly felt guilty too that she wasn't there enough for him and wasn't involved enough in his life.

"I…I'm… I'm…" Tory couldn't say it, not to his mother, not with her looking so worried.

"Tory you're scaring me. Please just tell me what's going on."

Tory summed his courage and tried again. "Mom, I'm…I'm gay mom." Tory looked anywhere but at her eyes. He couldn't bring himself to see her reaction.

**AN: **There's another chapter. Two in one day! I've had a lot of free time and I'm starting to enjoy this story writing business. I hope you enjoyed and as always, please review! I need feedback if I'm ever going to know what I'm doing right or wrong.


	6. The Consequence of Love

**Disclaimer: **Please scroll past this like you always do.

**AN: **Let me just say that it has been a really awesome experience. This was my first attempt at writing and I've found that I love it. About the story; the first volume only truly gave us hints about certain things and was too short for us to get a real feel for the characters. I'm going to fill in some gaps while trying to stay as true to OffBeat as possible. Please take some time review.

**Respect for my reviewers:**

**Ex-ANIMEADDICT: **I have no words for how happy that review made me feel. To use the word 'love' and my story in the same sentence, I could die. Here's chapter 6 ahead of schedule.

**Ros: **In real life, when a boy likes another boy and they start a relationship, there are a while lot of things that need to happen emotionally and otherwise before they are comfortable with it. One thing is of course, coming out. Though it seems that some people forget/ignore this. Oh and I love Paul too . Thanks for keeping up with my story.

**Fallen Latte: **Yay, someone made me favorite . Tory's relationship with his mom is very loving, but none the less, it's usually very hard to tell someone you love that you're gay. Personally, my family went crazy. Anyway, thanks for the compliments. Here is the next chapter of Finding:

**Chapter 6: Consequence of Love**

"Tory honey, you're gay?"

Tory brought his head up and saw his mother's confused and worried expression. "Uh huh," he said.

"Are you sure?" Tory's mom asked and Tory nodded.

"Is that's what's been going on these past few days?" Tory's mom asked.

"I guess, kind of. Are you mad?" Tory answered.

Mary Blake found herself hugging her son. "Tory, you know I love you. I'm not mad, I'm just a little concerned. Does this have something to do with the fight?" Tory nodded.

"It's a long story if I start from the beginning. Are you sure you want to hear it?" Tory said.

"I've been trying to get you tell me what's been going on for a while now. Go ahead and tell me, I've got time." Tory told her his story up to the fight while leaving out key bits about what he'd found out about Colin. Mary asked a few questions for clarification but was, for the most part, supportive.

"The dean said that? I wonder if it's legal? Don't worry about it Tory, I'll sort this out." Tory was taken off guard by how supportive his mom was being.

"Mom, to be honest I was really worried about how you'd react to all this, but you're being so cool. Thanks mom."

"Tory you know I love you no matter what. As for the gay thing, I head a graphic design department for an advertisement agency in the city. If I was going to react badly to gay guys, I wouldn't have made this far." Tory smiled at that. "Though to be honest honey, it's going to take some time for me to get used to it but for now I just want you to be safe and what's best for you. You and I just need to figure out what that is." Tory sympathized with her; she was taking it tons better than he did.

"You should invite Colin over for dinner this weekend so I can meet him. We really didn't say anything to each other the last time, he seems so shy."

"Sure, I'll call and ask him."

"Good. Tory, I want you to tell me if anything else happens in school alright?"

"Yes mom."

"Oh and honey, I know you probably don't want to hear this from your mother honey." Mary gave a pause and gave her son a stern look. "I really think you're way too young to be having sex---"

"Mom!" Tory really did not want to listen to his mom give him a gay sex talk.

"But. But of you do, just make sure to be safe. Okay?" Mary looked hard into Tory eyes and didn't move until Tory said 'okay.'

"Can I go now?" It was getting a little too awkward for Tory.

"Yes you may. Goodnight hun."

"Night mom." Tory walked back into his room and collapsed on the bed. _I guess I was worried for nothing. I don't see how that could have gone any better except for the last bit. _He remembered Colin and fished the boy's number from his pocket. _I hope he hasn't gone to bed, but I've got to tell him what happened. _Tory went over to his phone and dialed the number. _Maybe we can ride together in the morning. _Tory beamed waiting for Colin to pick up.

"Hello." The voice on the other end was raspy and weak.

"Colin? Is that you? Are you okay?"

"Tory, I…can't…talk. Talk…At school…okay." He sounded like he was in pain.

Tory panicked. "Colin? What's wrong? Do you want me to come over?"

"No!" came Colin's raspy reply. "I'll see… you at school. Bye." Tory heard a click on the line.

"Colin!" There was no response and then all Tory heard was a dial tone. Tory was stricken. _What was going on? Should I tell mom, should I go to the police? _Tory tried to calm himself down. _Maybe I'm overreacting. I know he gets sick sometimes and afterwards, he's always okay. He said he'd see me at school, I should just relax for now. _He couldn't relax though. Something was very wrong here. Tory was worried for his new love but didn't know what he could do right then. Resigned, he decided to go to bed and hope everything was alright in the morning.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Wednesday morning. Tory had never imagined how much could change in such a short period of time. It was only the third day of the week and he had already managed to realize he was gay, get himself into a fight over it, get his school career threatened for acting on it, and find himself in falling in love with a boy because of it. Tory woke up worried. _Colin, I really hope you're alright. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you._

He couldn't get it out of his mind during his two hour commute. What was worse was that he usually didn't see Coin until Physics which was later in the afternoon. As Tory got to school, he hoped that Colin would be waiting by his locker or that he's run into him in the halls so he didn't have to deal with all the waiting.

Mandy saw Tory coming down the sidewalk, "Hey Tory."

"Hey." Tory wondered how it was possible that he ran into Mandy several times everyday and the guy he'd been trying to run into for weeks always seemed to be almost impossible to find in the school.

"I didn't see you in class yesterday. Were you sick?"

"No, it's a long story. Have you seen Colin?" Tory asked.

"No, but I just got here. Something up?" Mandy asked.

Tory sighed. "Maybe, but I got to go. I'll see you later."

"Alright Tory, bye."

Tory headed straight to his locker hoping he would run into Colin there like he did on Monday. To his disappointment, there was no Colin, only his locker with the word 'FAG' scratched prominently into the metal. He sighed and wondered if Jeremy had done it despite his apology. He took out his house key and tried to scratch out the word, but now it just looked lie someone had tried to scratch out the word 'FAG.' _Whatever, I don't regret kissing Colin, _he told himself though he regretted doing it in the open. Tory got his book and went to class.

For the rest of the morning, Tory tried to use class to take his mind of Colin, but school, as usual, failed to keep his mind occupied. For him it was mind-numbing listening to the teacher explain at length what he either already knew or could understand pretty quickly. Despite his boredom, he tried to avoid daydreaming as his thoughts would always drift to a certain raven haired boy and make up reasons for him to be worried.

During PE, Tory was watching some students playing basketball when Mandy and two of her friends came over. "Hey Tory."

"Hey. What's up?" Tory remembered that he still didn't know Mandy's friends' names, though he didn't care. They seemed snobby, and he really didn't like how they looked at him like there was something wrong with him. Mandy was so much nicer.

"Not much, how'd it go with you-know-who?" Mandy asked.

"Pretty good, we're pretty much a couple now." Tory beamed happy.

"You have a girlfriend now Tory?" Mandy's friend asked him surprised.

"Well um, I wouldn't say girlfriend." Tory tactfully replied.

"Hey Mandy, who is it?" Mandy's other friend asked.

"Is she pretty?"

"I'll let Tory tell yah if he wants to." Mandy answered.

Mandy's friends looked at Tory expectantly. _Like hell I'm going to tell them about Colin_, Tory thought. "Sorry ladies, I'm not going to say anything until we're ready to tell everyone."

Mandy smiled at that. "We're going to play basketball, you want to come?"

"I'd love to, but no. I don't really like basketball."

"Lets go Mandy." Mandy's friend said.

"Huh, Alright. See yah later Tory." Mandy left with her two friends and Tory could tell they were gossiping about him. _I don't see the point of letting everybody in the school know. So far nothing good came out of it. I wonder how many people Jeremy's talked to._

Soon PE was over and after lunch Tory was relieved to be heading for physics, but when he got there, there was no Colin. _He's just a little late, like yesterday_, he told himself, but when the final bell rang and the teacher began, Colin was still nowhere to be seen.

"Have you seen Colin?" Tory whispered to Mandy beside him.

"No, and we have a quiz today. I wonder where he is." Tory had completely forgotten the quiz. _Oh well, this is just physics right?_ Nervousness over Colin was working against him though and he couldn't concentrate on the questions on his quiz. By the end of class he was stressed out. He wasn't used to having a hard time on tests and he wasn't sure he did well. Plus there was still no sign of Colin. _I'll never forgive myself if he got hurt and I didn't do anything about it._

The rest of the afternoon didn't matter to Tory, he couldn't stop worrying. While he rode the train, he decided that he would tell his mother all he knew about the Gaia project and the fainting spells Colin had and hope she could help somehow. When he got home, a strange black sedan was parked in front of his house. It had black, tinted windows and the engine was on.

As he got closer, the doors opened and two men came out. They were both wearing a black suit, crew cut hair, and had dark sun glasses on. They were tall and well built, Tory could see. He couldn't tell if they were armed. _FBI? Secret Service? MIB? _Tory wondered. He was suddenly afraid.

"Christopher Blake?" One of the men asked.

Tory shortly considered whether he should pretend to be someone else. "Yes?"

"I'm officer Henry, NSA." The man showed his badge. "We would like you to come with us."

**AN: **To be fair, I gave Tory and Colin 5 whole chapters to start a normal relationship before the shit hit the fan. Don't worry though, there is more ToryxColin to come. One thing I love about OffBeat is that it's based in America in the present day so it's just so much more real to Americans than some other manga. My little sister read it and told me that she could probably find Tory in New York if she tried. Please review and keep reading. Gaia will be revealed (or at least my version of it).


	7. Cruel Intensions

**Disclaimer: **I realized that I might actually need this. I was wondering what the chances are of Ms. Quick stumbling onto and I figured that it was pretty reasonable. I don't own OffBeat or any of the characters portrayed. Ms. Jen Lee Quick does and I'm a big fan.

**AN: **I'm sorry if I disappointed any of you who expected/wanted a different direction with the story. I may or may not regret this, but I didn't want to do a strictly love story. Noticing that the two weren't going to be able to build a trusting relationship or grow until all the secrets came out, I created this chapter. I also know that may people like OffBeat for the reason that it is about two boys (me included) but it's also a sci-fi story, so keep that in mind. Please review.

**Respect for my reviewers:**

**Fallen Latte: **He he. Please continue reading and tell me what you think. This is my first fic and all so I was thinking I'd try to developing a plot.

**ariatainted: **Always nice to hear from another OffBeat writer. Thanks for the props. I hope you keep reading.

**Mintgreentea and Kyonkichi89: **Here's another update, nothing like fresh drama to start the afternoon.

**Rating: T**

**Chapter 7: Cruel Intensions**

"Do I have ay choice? What is this about?" Tory asked. So many scenarios were running through his head.

"We would just like to ask you some questions sir." The officer said. "Please come with us peacefully. I have the authority to use force if necessary, but none of us want any ugliness do we?" The officer opened the rear door and motioned for Tory to enter.

Tory took the cue and got in the car. _Oh my god! I'm being kidnapped by the NSA. How could this be happening?_ Both men got in the car and closed the door behind them. Tory heard the click of his door automatically locking. Immediately, he felt trapped and claustrophobic.

As the car began to drive, the one that called himself Henry was first to speak. "We are just taking you to a secure location. I'm sorry if we scared you but this is a matter of much importance," the officer told Tory.

"Could you at least tell me what this is about?" Tory's heart was pounding uncontrollably.

"Please be patient, we will be there shortly." The officer seemed disinterested in Tory's obvious fear.

The car drove through the neighborhoods for some time before coming upon an industrial area. Tory could see smoke stacks and old factories and the Manhattan skyline receding in the distance across the sound. It reminded him of old mafia movies. _All I did was kiss him, that's all I did! _Tory couldn't figure out what could have precipitated this. He felt he barely knew Colin Stevens and nothing of the Gaia Project except its name. A thought flashed through his mind as the car pulled onto a side street. _This has got to be related to the call last night. Maybe they think I know too much. Oh God, maybe they are here to kill me._ Tory shortly considered jumping out of the car, but he saw that he couldn't access the lock. _Maybe if I surprise them…. _Tory's thoughts were interrupted by the car stopping.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Meanwhile, at home, Mary Blake drove up to her house. Her work schedule freed up that afternoon and she wanted to come home early to be with her son. She had made a special effort to go straight home. She felt she needed to be there to offer any support her son needed especially after what he had told her yesterday.

"Tory!" She called out as she entered the door, but there was no response. She saw Paul coming down the hall.

"Hey Paul." She was absently concerned that Tory hadn't come home yet.

"Hey Ms. B, you look nice."

"Thanks Paul."

"Hey, you know where Tory is?"

"No, I was going to ask you. I guess he's just taking long to get home. He's probably with that Colin kid." Mary said, but some part of her was nagging that something was wrong.

"About Colin, I think you need to know that there's some serious stuff going on with him."

"You talking about their relationship? Don't worry I know. Tory told me about it."

"No, this is something else." Paul's expression serious.

"What do you mean?" Paul's tone was getting her worried.

"I found out some stuff about him. I have it on my computer. I was going to show Tory now that they're, um, so close. I think you should see it too."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tory looked around and saw that they were by a warehouse next to an old nondescript industrial plant. Tory could see that they were near the water, maybe a block or two away from the bay. He couldn't see the familiar Manhattan skyline. There was nothing familiar about the area. Tory realized that he had no idea where he was and cursed himself for not paying closer attention to the route they had taken.

The door lock popped open and the men got out leaving Tory inside. Tory guessed that they were talking. _At least they didn't shoot me when they got here. Isn't that how they do it? Or do they take you to the river and give you cement shoes?_ Despite himself, he laughed at the image of these rough government types sinking him by the docks like an out of date drug lord. Fear and nervousness was making him hysterical, he realized. After a minute or two, Henry opened Tory's door. "Come on," was all he said.

Tory could see that there we others now. At least three other men and one woman were standing outside the car that Tory could see; all of them wearing nondescript black suits, the woman in a dress suit. Unlike his abductors, none of them wore sunglasses. Tory could make out their faces and took a mental note of each one. Cautiously, the redhead slowly got out of the car.

The woman was first to speak. She was smiling, "Sorry if we scared you Tory, we are not going to hurt you."

Tory blurted out, "What's going on? Why did you arrest me? I get a phone call right? I want to call my mom!"

"Please calm down, you aren't under arrest, and no I'm sorry you can't have a phone call." The woman's cool attitude was getting on Tory's nerves. _They kidnap me and ask me to calm down?_

"What do you want?" Tory asked.

One of the male officers was the one to answer, "We need your help. You're acquainted with Colin Stevens right?"

Tory didn't think before answering. "Where is he? Do you have him? Is he hurt?"

"Please let me explain the situation," the officer replied and Tory stared at him expectantly. Clearing his throat, he began, "We have been monitoring a pseudo private sector research project, 'Gaia.' I believe you have heard of it. The Musen Corporation, which primarily deals in pharmaceuticals, has been funding undercover genetic research in independent labs for some time now. Most of it has been minor and well within legal limits but a few years ago, there was evidence that they had made a major breakthrough. Considering the nature of genetic research, we were called to investigate the potential that a biological weapon had been developed." Tory's eyes went wide.

The man continued, "Because the Musen Corporation has its base of operations in Eastern Europe, outside of our normal jurisdictions, the resources available for this investigation were limited. They were able to hide the bulk of the information regarding the project from us. We did find out, though, that what Musen developed was not a bio-weapon as we had assumed, it was something completely different."

"What was it?" Tory found himself asking.

"They found a key. There are small segments in our genetic code that is shared by all organisms on the planet. More specifically, there is a particular set of genes that, when expressed, act as a common receptor. Are you following?" Tory wasn't. He was too worried about his predicament to concentrate on what the man was saying.

"What does this have to do with Colin?" Tory asked.

"Colin Stevens was given a retrovirus that altered certain parts of his DNA. We can only speculate, but we believe that instead of being the receptor, as all organisms usually are, the modifications make him act as the transmitter. The implications of this alone are cause for concern." Tory wasn't sure whether to be interested in any of this. His primary concern for his and Colin's safety and couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that something wasn't adding up.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Well, it seems that last night, you might have unwittingly contracted fragments of the retrovirus. They might have been inert, they might not have been, but the point is, it may be swimming around in your bloodstream right now." Tory didn't know whether to feel embarrassed that they knew about the kiss or scared of what could be inside of him. Either way, he was getting uncomfortable.

"What do you want? A blood sample?" Tory asked.

"Yes, but that's not the only reason you are here. Last night we lost track of Colin Stevens. You were the last person he had contact with that we know of and you are the most likely person he would try to contact. We brought you here to minimize our exposure. We need to find him and we need to know what Musen intends to do with the Gaia Project. To do that, we would like your cooperation. We need to protect you and Colin from any harm. That's our first priority." Tory sensed the man was lying. Something was wrong with this whole performance or maybe it was just too much to believe.

"What are you going to do if you find him?" Tory asked.

"If we find him and this whole thing is nothing, we'll probably just continue to gather data. We aren't ready to make any move yet and we don't think Musen is either." The officer's face was hard now, Tory knew now he was omitting something.

"What if it is something?" Tory asked. He could practically hear the man calculate his answer.

"Then it would be a matter of national security." came his reply. His face was a stone. The young teen could only imagine what that meant._ They are going to kill him aren't they? I need to find Colin and warn him. No, I need to help him get out of here. These guys seem dangerous; they don't seem to have limitless power and no normal restrictions on what they can do. _Tory then remembered what the officer had said. _I have the virus too, they think I'm a threat too or they wouldn't have gone this far. _Tory thought again about escape, but it seemed impossible.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"This is impossible." Mary was saying. "How can that be?"

"There's more. Colin is the center of the project, but there are others. They were all given the MC-198 virus, but here's the kicker. There is some speculation that the virus could be transferred via close human contact."

"Oh my God, Tory!" Mary was mortified. "We need to call the cops, we need to get someone on this."

"They already know. Musen struck a deal with the feds for development. They provide some funds, keep an eye on the subject, and cover the whole thing up and Musen delivers the finished technology when it's ready. It seems that Musen didn't tell them all the details of the project, and someone high up decided that the project was too dangerous when they figured out some of the missing pieces. I think they're going to try to terminate it."

"You mean…"

"Yeah, I think they'll try to get rid of all evidence of MC-198." Paul said gravely.

Mar Blake felt weak.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The NSA officers had taken Tory inside the warehouse building where they had set up a makeshift medical station. There was simply a chair and an equipment stand. The setup seemed so lonely in the big warehouse. The two officers who hadn't spoken earlier had donned white medical coats and were putting on latex gloves next to the chair.

"Please, sit down." Tory saw one of the men preparing a large syringe. Tory hesitated. Tory wasn't normally squeamish around needles, but then again nothing was normal about any of this.

"Go ahead." Tory could feel the officers looming closer, ready to force him if necessary. Just then Tory heard a loud bang. Then the lights in the big warehouse went out plunging Tory and the agents into almost total darkness. The only light was a small silver where the door had not completely closed. Tory was startled for a second then quickly decided, _I need to make a break for it. This could be my only chance._

"Dammed! Don't let him get away! Block the exit!" Tory could hear the officers scream. Tory hadn't even started to run yet, but all the fear and adrenaline free flowing through his system told him now that running was his only option and run he did. Tory ran flat out towards the light hoping, praying that he would make it out of this okay. He could hear footsteps around him, running, trying to cut him off. Then, all of a sudden, they stopped and Tory heard a series of muffled plops, the sounds of bodies falling on a hard surface. Tory didn't stop to wonder. He reached the door and bust through and kept running. No one followed him.

It was then Tory saw him.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"My baby. My baby is in danger." Mary felt powerless. She didn't know what she could do.

"Don't worry, I don't think that they are going to make their move today. Besides, if he's with Colin, I don't think that there is much that they _can_ do."

Mary felt an overwhelming need to find her son. "We need to find him Paul."

Paul nodded. "Yeah, I agree."

Mary made her decision. "You stay here in case he comes back, I'm going to drive around to see if I can find him. Call me on my cell if anything turns up." She got up and started for the door.

"Alright Ms. B. Good luck."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

He was waving at him. The boy with the raven hair. The boy with the great killer secret. The boy Tory loved.

Colin.

Tory gave no second thought. He ran to his love and hugged him deeply. It was then he noticed Colin was crying. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry Tory, I didn't want it to end up like this. I didn't want you to get hurt." Tory's heart almost broke looking to those scared, crestfallen eyes on the face of the one he cared for so much.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine. Let's just get out of here." Tory said.

**AN: **I think I'll stop here for now. Please keep readin' and reviewin'. The update took a while due to a busy weekend. I should put out a few chapters this week. No promises though.


	8. Secrets

**Disclaimer: **I do not own OffBeat of any of its characters ad I am not collecting a cent for this story. Any other characters are completely the work of the author's imagination.

**AN: **Thanks for all the positive reviews! I'm glad you guys took it so well. It actually took me a while to get this chapter going. I hope you like it and as always, please review.

**Respect for my reviewers:**

I know I usually do this individually, but I just got to say again THANKS SO MUCH! To all of you thanks for those reviews. You have no idea how giddy they make me. As for the fate of Tory and Colin You'll just have to keep on reading to find out. Oh and I made that little change KyonKichi89, I probably should have proofread a little more before I posted it. Thanks again.

**Rating: T**

**Chapter 8: Secrets**

The world had never been so confusing for Tory. Life was a blur. Time was measured in events, not days and everything that was once normal was being ripped away. He was just a slightly offbeat teenage boy going to a slightly offbeat school and living a slightly offbeat life. He made good grades; he would get into a good college. He was making friends; he would be reasonably popular. Everything was looking pretty good for Tory Blake. But now he was trapped in the bad end of a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from.

Before he would dream and daydream. His mind would make up great fantastical situations for entertainment to supplement his otherwise average and mundane life. Now every time he dreamt, it would be about something that he was worried about. When he daydreamt, well he found no time to daydream anymore. Life was plenty entertaining as it was.

Colin. His name was etched into Tory's mind. Like a lens, it gave him focus, clarity, a reason to be. One moment one year before had irreversibly changed the course of Tory's life. It was the night he had first seen that handsome face, the intriguing eyes, and the soft raven hair. From that point on, life became a rollercoaster. A ride on a track that wasn't Tory's making or under his control. Nonetheless he had willingly boarded curious where the ride would take him, but all the while confident that there was little risk. Bad things didn't happen to good people. Life was safe. _He_ was safe.

He was wrong

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine. Let's just get out of here." Tory said. So many questions needed to be asked, but now was not the time or place.

Colin nodded. "I have a car parked on the corner, follow me."

"You drove?" Tory was done being surprised by things, but he had to wonder. Colin was only fifteen after all. Colin only nodded in response and started running towards the road. Tory followed closely behind. The pleasant shock of seeing Colin was now wearing off, replaced by the rather unpleasant reality of his predicament and now another unpleasant feeling was building.

Tory was starting to feel weak. The road in front of him was blurring. A dull pain had started in his head, but he kept running. "Colin, the officers, you did that?"

"Yes."

"Are they dead?" Tory was panting heavily now. The redhead could tell something was seriously wrong.

"No, just unconscious. They'll wake up in a few minutes." Colin's voice was somber. "There it's that one," Colin pointed at a somewhat average sedan parked on the curve. He didn't notice Tory's struggling.

Tory absently felt cold. He could see black edges creeping in around his vision. Soon all he could see was Colin and then nothing at all. _Colin's so beautiful, _was the last thing he remembered thinking before he passed out.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Mary Blake drove three rounds of the route she knew Tory took to get home hoping that he was just late, but as the sun went down went she was starting to give up hope. _Tory, please be safe. I won't give up until you're home. I'll fight this. No one is going to take away by baby without a fight. _Mary decided to drive back home and figure out a strategy. She was holding onto hope that somehow Tory would be waiting for her, but she knew that was unlikely. Paul would have called her cell.

As she drove up to her house, she regarded the house Dr. Garrets and Colin shared with much resentment. _You did this, you pulled my boy into this and now he's in danger. I'll never forgive you if something happens to him._

Paul was waiting for her in the living room. He could practically feel the aura of fear and anger around her. "Hey Ms. B, I'm guessing you didn't find him?"

"No Paul, I didn't."

"Listen, Tory's a smart kid, I'm sure he can take care of himself."

Mary wanted to believe him, she really did, but to her it sounded like he was just saying anything to calm her and it didn't. Not even a little.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thursday morning. Or was it still Wednesday? Or was it Friday? Tory held onto the fading fragments of a dream, but the more he tried, the more it was lost. Soon all he was left with was a warm sense of contentment with no tangible source. _At least it was a good dream, _he thought. It had something to do with Colin. Tory slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying in the backseat of a car. There was someone in the driver's seat. Was it? Yes that was Colin. Suddenly, all the memories came rushing back to him as well as killer headache. Tory let out an audible moan as he made an effort to sit up.

"You're awake." Colin looked at Tory through the rear view mirror.

"Uh huh, where are we? How long have I been out?" Tory looked around. It was dark outside and it looked like it had been that way for a while. They were parked in front of what looked like a small convenience store.

"About three hours. We're in Jersey. Bout twenty miles outside the city. How you feeling?" Colin looked back. Tory could tell he had been crying.

"Like I got run over by a truck. What happened?" Tory squinted. The light from the convenience store sign was making his headache worse.

Colin sat back and watched the neon sign. "Well you passed out, I put you in the car, and I tried to get as far away from New York as I could before gas got to be a problem. Tory I'm so sorry. I didn't want this to happen, you got to believe me." Tory took in Colin's apology and let out a sigh.

Tory scooted over to Colin's side of the car and slipped his arms around the boy from behind. He leaned in and gave him a peck on his check where a blush was forming. His voice ticked Colin's ear. "Colin, you told me to stay away from you and I didn't. You told me not to get involved and I did. Don't blame yourself for this. You know, despite everything, I'm glad I'm here with you right now." Colin didn't respond and Tory could see that he was still upset and blaming himself. "Listen, lets just get out of this, and then we can worry about all the other stuff."

Colin considered this and gave a nod. After a short hesitation Colin made a decision. "Oh yeah, take this, it'll help with your symptoms." Colin fished a container of pills from his jacket pocket.

Tory released Colin and took the container. "It's the virus isn't it?"

Colin nodded somberly, "Yeah, I had no idea that it could be passed on after so much time. I mean there was a chance, but after you kissed me the first time and nothing happened, I just assumed… I'm sorry."

"Colin, as you said I kissed you first. I could have gotten it then. Anyways, stop worrying about that stuff. We got to move on or we won't make it right?" Tory gave Colin another peck and Colin blushed again. "So how many do I take?"

"Two, you want me get some water?" _He's so cute when he's like this_, Tory was thinking. _I don't want to be separated from him just yet._

"Nah, I think I can manage." Tory swallowed the pills with some effort and handed the container back to Colin.

"So, what are we going to do?" Colin asked after a short uncomfortable silence.

"Well first off, is this your car? You're fifteen right?"

"Yeah, its one of Dr. Garret's. I kind of borrowed it when I found out that you were in trouble. I have a permit, but yeah I guess I shouldn't be driving."

"Where is the guy? Does he know you have it?" Tory asked though he was really more curious how Colin knew he was in trouble and how he was saved exactly.

"He disappeared last night. I don't think he knows or cares what happens to this car though."

"Alright, um, I guess we should try to get in contact with my mom. But that's probably where they are looking for me so we should try to figure out a way to leave a message."

Colin thought for a second. "What about that guy who lives upstairs from you?"

"Paul? Nah they probably got the whole place bugged. They knew we kissed and all right away." Tory tried to figure out his options. "You know, we could drop by her work. Leave a message with one of her coworkers or something. They probably aren't watching that place. How much money do you have by the way?"

"Oh, um, about a hundred and fifty. You?"

"Just change from lunch. Like three bucks"

"I guess we got to make it last."

"Yeah." Tory said. He was starting to feel really sick again. The headache wasn't getting better either. "I feel like crap. How long does this last?"

"The medicine should help, but it's going to be pretty harsh for the first few days. Your immune system is trying to fight the virus, and the virus is making changes to your cells, especially to your brain. You're probably going to have some pretty bad headaches for a while."

"No kidding."

"Try to rest; we'll try to contact your mom in the morning."

"Uh huh that's sounds good, and Colin?"

"Yeah Tory?"

"Thanks." Tory lied back down and closed his eyes. Colin only nodded back. He had no idea what Tory was thanking him for and if he knew everything, Colin was sure that Tory would hate him. _What am I going to do now? This wasn't how I planed it at all. He wasn't supposed to end up with me; he wasn't supposed to get MC-198. Now he needs me just to stay alive. _Colin checked his pills. _I have 20 left for the two of us. With him in relapse, that'll last maybe until Saturday. Monday if we stretch it. Damn Musen, damn NSA, they are just waiting for me to come back now aren't they. They know I won't last long on my own. If it was just me, I would have been able to take care of it, but now he's involved. _Colin shortly considered leaving Tory. _What am I thinking? How could I do that? I'm not a monster, I'm not like them. I got him into this so I'm going to get him out… even if it kills me._

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

In the NSA task facility, officer Jack Norton, operational name 'Henry,' was taking flack from his operational chief. The old man was heavyset and had an imposing presence. He was an old war hero from the Gulf War, but more recently he'd been serving from his desk in NSA headquarters in Maryland. Well loved well known as a compassionate leader, NSA operations chief Michael Pinson could at times be a hardass. Jack Norton was glad that he didn't have to confess his failure to the man face to face. Over the phone was quite enough.

"You let him go without as much as a blood sample?"

"Sir, the situation was unexpected, the subject retur—"

"Don't give me excuses, you knew about that possibility didn't you?" The chief snapped at his subordinate.

"Sir, the tracking beacon. We know where the kid is. He's near Somerville. We could go after him now, but…"

"But what?"

"Well, we believe, sir, that Tory Blake contracted MC-198 and is in total relapse. They aren't going to be able to get too far and they don't have access to the stabilizers so either they'll try to get more at Musen, where we can intercept them in their weakened state, or the problem takes care of itself. This way we don't have to confront two MC-198 recipients at once."

The chief considered this and conceded that the plan made sense. "Do it. But Norton?"

"Yes sir?"

"This is your last chance, I don't want any screw ups. I want this handled before the end of the week."

"Yes sir."

**AN: **And there you go. Thanks again all of you who reviewed. Please tell me what you thought of chapter 8.


	9. Colin's Heart

**Disclaimer:** I don't own OffBeat by any stretch of the imagination and there is almost zero probability that the actually OffBeat story will be like this.

**AN:** Thanks for the multitude of reviews. The story has and is taking a serious turn and it's good to see people sticking it out with me. It feels good to be creative. Now that so much has happened to Tory and Colin, they aren't as bound to a certain chain of events as they were originally. Please continue reading and reviewing.

**Respect for my reviewers:**

**airatainted:** You have been so cool. You reviewed the last chapter like the minute it came out. Thanks for all the compliments you give me. It's cool to know someone is following the story and reviewing multiple chapters when they come out.

**KyonKichi89:** Same, I sent yah and email answering your question. As for my solution… we'll see what happens to poor Tory and Colin.

**Rockr4Life:** Glad you liked the chapter, there's much more to come. I'm trying to finish this before Ms. Quick puts out another volume.

**angelofmalice666:** Cool name first off. Thanks for the props. Yay offbeat indeed.

**oxygenthief7:** lol epic? Thanks.

**G-chan:** That was pretty funny. Yeah I'm a guy, its cool. They aren't guns so much though….

**ryoku1:** To you and everyone who adds this story to their favorites. THANKS! You are so awesome! Hmm, I can't wait for the conclusion either.

**NiennaAngel:** Aww, I feel so fuzzy inside. I think I'm addicted to awesome reviews.

That done, here's chapter 9!

**Rating: T**

**Chapter 9: Colin's Heart**

Tory woke up cold, sick, and in pain and with a serious need for a bathroom. Delicately, he got up and opened his door so he wouldn't wake up Colin who was sleeping soundly in the front seat. With some urgency he made his way to the convenience store and after some searching he found the bathroom at the rear of the store and luckily found it unlocked.

Meanwhile, Colin stirred and woke up, his face was numb and stuck to the cold glass window and it took some effort to pry it off. "_Where am I?" _was his first thought and when the memories came flooding back he felt instantly deflated. _Life will never be normal for either of us again will it? _Colin glanced back, fully expecting to see cute Tory still sleeping there, but the seat was bare. His first reaction was sheer panic. He instantly hoped out of the car and searched around nervously while his mind played out the worst scenarios he could imagine. Soon enough, though, he came to the conclusion that no, Tory couldn't have been abducted while he was sleeping, no, Tory hadn't been killed by the virus, and no, Tory wouldn't have or couldn't have run away. That only left the bathroom, but that still meant he was vulnerable. Colin was making way to the store when he was delightedly surprised to see the redhead coming around the corner. Colin practically ran to the boy and almost flung his arms around him but stopped himself when he saw Tory visibly was struggling.

"Are you okay?" Colin asked.

"Uh huh I think I'll be fine. Sorry if I worried yah, I didn't want to wake you up." Tory said.

"I… its okay. Just…" Colin struggled to put out the words.

"What is it?"

"Just…tell me if you are going to go out again. I was really worried. I thought I lost you." Colin blurted out surprising himself. He had never felt this strongly about anything for a long time. He wondered how much he really felt for Tory. Suddenly he felt a pang of guilt.

Tory watched Colin with an increasing need to make out with him right then and there, but instead he just gave him a hug and said, "I'm really sorry, I won't do it again." Colin returned the embrace and stood there enjoying it for a bit. Soon, though, both of them were starting to get pretty cold in the fridged winter air.

"Let's get back in the car." Colin said and they made their way back . Both he and Tory got in the front and once inside, Colin turned on the heater and they waited for the car to warm up.

"You know what? I think that they are probably tracking us," Tory said. "The NSA has got to have a way. I keep wondering if I overreacted by running away. Maybe we could go clear this up."

"Oh crap! I almost forgot." Colin turned around and pulled up his bag from behind his seat. From it, he produced a small metal device that Tory didn't recognize. "It's a signal tracker. From Musen. Dr. Garrets gave it to me earlier."

"That's handy."

"Yeah Tory, there is something I have to tell you."

"Uh huh no kidding." Tory's voice was sarcastic, harsh. It caught Colin off guard.

"Tory?"

Tory shook his head. "Sorry. What were you saying?"

"Listen, I know I put you through a lot, but I need to tell you everything." Colin paused there. Conflicted, he didn't know if he should continue. He didn't want to destroy the fragile balance that kept them together, but on the other hand, Tory deserved to know.

"Yeah? I'm listening. You know I've been trying to get you to tell me what's been going on for a while now." Tory said, curious about the pause.

"Listen…um…. Some of the stuff that happened to you earlier was my fault."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the NSA thing for one. They wouldn't have involved you if I hadn't been at your house."

"You know, I was wondering about that whole thing." Tory said "Like how did you know where we were exactly?"

"Um, about that, I um… kind of slipped you a tracking device."

"What? When?" Tory was growing very uncomfortable.

"When we were kissing last night. It was small, you probably didn't notice it."

"Why!" Tory couldn't believe this. "In case I got hurt? Why didn't you tell me?"

"No it wasn't that. Tory let me explain."

"Go for it." Tory wasn't sure what to think now and in the back of his mind a small fear was growing.

"Listen. NSA told you about Musen right?" Tory nodded.

"I don't know what they told you but Musen and the government were working together. I don't really know what happened, but two days ago, something fell through and Musen told me that the NSA would be after me. They told me that I have to get out soon or they were going to kill me." Colin said

"No way! I knew it. Something about those guys who kidnapped me…."

"Listen Tory." Colin took a breath, "Musen gave me a way out. They told me that there was only one chance to get away."

"What was it?"

"They said that…um." Colin was clearly conflicted and Tory could guess why.

"Let me guess, something about me."

"I didn't want to hurt you, you weren't a target. You weren't supposed to be in danger. I never told you anything."

"What do you mean? What did you do?"

"The tracking device. That was the one the NSA and Musen gave to me. It was the one I wore for them to keep tabs on me."

Tory stared at Colin incredulously. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. All of a sudden he was very pissed. "Oh, I think I understand. So you gave it to me so you could get away." Colin didn't respond. "So the kiss. All that was just to plant it on me?"

"No! Tory…I…"

"I can't believe this. You knew they wanted to kill you right? You gave it to me knowing that! All this time I thought you were trying to protect me."

"Tory listen! I gave it to you orally for a reason. It was supposed to pass through your system. I was supposed to get away and you were supposed to go to school and NSA wouldn't figure out anything was wrong till I was gone. No one would even know you had it."

"But they did find out. Not only that, they picked me up and were going to kill me for all I know. All for having your damn virus."

"Tory! I didn't know you would get it."

"No, I'm tired of you making decisions for me. You wouldn't tell me anything and you decided to put my life in danger. All by yourself. And here we are stuck in a car in the middle of nowhere probably ten seconds from an air strike."

"Tory, please calm down."

"Why should I? I thought you liked me Colin, I really did and I thought I was falling for you too. How could you—"

"I love you Tory!" Colin blurted out catching Tory off guard. He was crying now. Tears of passionate emotion.

"What did you say?"

"I love you. Honestly. I hated myself for what I did. I didn't stop worrying about you. It was the only way I could see, but this afternoon I couldn't leave. I could have gotten away, there was a plane waiting for me. I was about to board when we got news that the tracker on you started to move south. Three feet from the plane I turned back. I ended up stealing Dr. Garrets' car and headed back to town. I was prepared to do anything to save you Tory. I would have given my life."

"Colin…I" The story astonished Tory. "I had no idea."

"I didn't want to hurt you. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." Colin was sobbing heavily now.

"Colin…" Suddenly Colin leaned into Tory and kissed him deeply. Tory, though surprised and still torn up, responded. After a series of short intimate touches, Colin broke the kiss.

"It's real Tory. I really love you. The kisses were real." Colin said, his voice still broken in sobs.

"Colin….I…I love you too." Tory leaned in and gave a kiss of his own. It was a single soft peck that said more than Tory ever could with words. Colin was forgiven. They would move on together for better or for worse. They would fight this. Together.

The pair held each other persistently, but uncomfortably across the front seat for a few minutes before breaking. Tory was the first to speak after the long emotional silence, "So you said it would pass through right?"

"What would?"

"The device, you said it would pass through?"

"Oh, yeah. It should."

"Well, um, I just came from the bathroom so…"

Colin smiled. "Let me check the tracker." He turned on the device. Tory could see that it displayed a map with several zoom levels. Centered in the middle of the screen was a red dot which Tory presumed was the tracking beacon. It was very clearly moving.

"Wherever it is, it's moving away from here. Sewers maybe?" Colin said smirking.

"Hmm, I think we should go another direction. Throw them off." Tory suggested.

"Yeah good idea." Colin moved to start the car.

"Colin?"

"Yes love?" Tory blushed at that.

"You got to tell me everything from now on. No more secrets. That's the only way we're going to make it through this. Deal?"

"Deal."

**AN: **There's chapter nine. The update took a while due to computer issues. I hope you liked. I figured it was time for some more answers. I'm not sure how many chapters it will take, but this story is going to draw to a conclusion soon enough.

On a side note, now that Leeren's story wont be updated for a while, I'm the only one with new OffBeat content for a few weeks. Please don't leave me alone! Start writing some more fics guys!

Please review!


	10. Other Half

**Disclaimer:** I don't own OffBeat or an of its characters and I'm not going to make a dime off spending many hours writing this story for OffBeat fans.

**AN:** Just read the story.

**Respect for my reviewers:** (wow I go a lot in just one day, thanks guys)

**NiennaAngel:** Glad you liked it. That chapter was mostly dialogue and I was afraid that I didn't get it right.

**ariatainted: **Nope, sorry you were second. He he. I'm so flattered that I got someone to react emotionally to my story. That is just awesome. I hope I don't disappoint you with this chapter.

**foxy-comic-death:** Gald you liked it there. I wonder how long it takes to read my story from the beginning. Updates are on their way I promise.

**Kyonichi89:** I liked your reviews a lot. You tell me so much in them so its easier to gauge how you guys are reacting to stuff I do and make adjustments. Keep it up! I'm glad you liked the plot so much. I'm trying to avoid plot holes as much as possible. Please tell me what you think of chapter 10.

**angelofmalice666: **It's kind of interesting to hear people say that the tracker thing was a twist. For me it wasn't. It was just something I didn't tell you guys until that point. I guess I'll never know how it is to actually read my story.

**ryoku1:** Don't like the drama? Heh well it needed to be done. Stuff was just building up.

**wonder1440:** Haven't had a review from you in a while. Nice to know that you are still following it. I agree. No more secrets.

**Rating: T **(as long as making out isn't considered M just cause its guys)

**Chapter 10: Other Half**

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Monday, 7:52:30 AM_: I kissed him; it was magnificent and horrific at the same time but I kissed him. Colin let me…for a few seconds before shoving me away and shouting at me, but he definitely let me. He seemed so angry at me. I can understand, though, I probably would act the same way in his place. He seemed really conflicted the whole time though._

Colin was slightly late today. It was not like him to be late for things and it was getting him a little stressed out and angry for no good reason. It was the new supplement, Colin knew. He woke up sick that morning and it took longer than normal for the new supplement to work. Besides it had an affect on his mood. _At least Dr. Garrets said this would the last round, _Colin thought. _After two more weeks, I won't have to worry about this at all and I wont have to worry about having episodes like last Saturday._ Something else was bothering Colin. It was that Tory kid. It wasn't like him to get so emotional over other people. It really bothered the boy that Tory could make him act that way. It also bothered him that he was looking for the kid even now. _What happened to 'no close personal contact?' _

Colin wondered about the vague set of rules he had been told to obey. It seemed to him it was just a little bit over the top to separate himself from any and everything normal kids his age would be doing. _What's the harm of having one friend if I don't get him involved with Gaia? It's not like they can stop me. Plus, he seems really nice. I don't know why he keeps digging into my life, but he seems like the kind of person I'd want as a friend. _

Colin saw Jeremy coming down the hall and cringed slightly. It wasn't that he was afraid of the kid, he had dealt with worse than teenage assholes in his life, but he just didn't like the confrontation. Colin made a slightly wider than needed arc around him. Jeremy wouldn't have it though and bumped shoulders with Colin anyway. Glancing back, Colin could see a glimpse of the guy smirking at him. _Great now he thinks he owns me. Whatever, he can go jack off or whatever I don't care what he thinks._ Colin kept walking.

Just then, Colin saw Tory walking towards the hall from the stairwell. The read-head seemed preoccupied. Colin decided he was just going approach the guy. He hadn't thanked him properly for the tutoring and that was enough of an excuse to talk to him. Tory, still preoccupied and obviously in thought, stopped all of a sudden, clenched his fist, and declared "That's it. Time to settle this."

Colin almost laughed at the curious display, but instead asked innocently "Settle what?"

Tory turned around. Colin could see his eyes were hard and determined, but there was another expression Colin didn't recognize. Tory placed his hands on Colin's shoulders and Colin nearly melted at the contact. Colin was perplexed, his parents were the last people he had even let touch him and when they did it hadn't felt like this. There was something more here than that simple touch, something warm, something magnetic. Then there were Tory's eyes, they drew him in. _He's so beautiful, _Colin thought as the moment stretched. The rest of the word did not matter right then.

Then Tory leaned in, and like a magnet, Colin leaned in too and the two sets of lips met. For a second Colin couldn't move, nothing responded. He was too caught up in the rapture. Then, as his senses eased back, he opened his eyes only to see Jeremy staring at them in shock horror. Colin immediately snapped out of his trance. Anger was his first reaction. He shouted at him, he felt violated and when that initial reaction wore off and Tory was long gone, he felt ashamed of himself for hurting the only person who had really reached out to him at school.

It did not take long for Colin to realize that he had feelings for Tory. Before the end of the morning, he realized that he had had a crush on the guy for weeks and how he felt during the kiss was just an extension of that. That figured out, he felt he finally understood why the redhead seemed to care about him so much. Now all Colin needed to do was salvage this somehow.

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Monday 8:15 PM: _Sarah Higgins, third grade: Kiss on cheek. Liked the experience of a kiss. No special emotions. Didn't pursue it. Alex Jordan, third grade: Held hands during a field trip. Didn't let go for almost the whole time. Liked that experience. Daniel (forgot last name), forth grade…_

When Colin got home, he was happy enough. The thought of having someone special was really awesome for him. It wasn't just anyone either. It was cute Tory who doesn't even realize that the girls talk about him all the time. _I mean they think he's kind of dorky but they all agree that he's cute._ Colin made his way up to his room and plopped down on his bed. Using his remote, he turned on his speakers and had them play the CD he was listening to last. Colin sung along happily to the song.

Later that night, Colin was struggling again with his homework when the call came. Colin's phone rang a special ring that meant the call was from a company contact. Tentatively, he picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Colin Stevens, this is just a check up, how are you feeling?" The voice was male, probably mid-thirties from what Colin could hear. There was no expression or inflection in the voice at all.

"Fine at the moment." Colin responded. Musen didn't just call to 'check up.' Every time they called, there was a serious problem and something needed to be done or else they would just go through their normal channels instead of calling directly.

"You aren't feeling blue at all?" The man asked still with no inflection. There it was. The code word 'blue.' It meant Musen had a message that couldn't be discussed on the phone. It didn't mean something bad, but Colin had to admit that this was the first time Musen had needed to use it. _Something big must be up._

"Colin, did you hear me?" the voice asked.

"Yes and I'm not feeling blue. I'm just fine. Thank you goodbye." Colin slammed down the phone and ran downstairs to where Dr. Garrets was already waiting for him, Colin's coat in his hand.

"What do you think it is?" Colin asked taking the coat.

Dr. Garrets shrugged. "Not here, come on" was all Dr. Garrets offered as he turned and walked out the door. Colin only followed in silent wonder.

It took forty-five minutes to get to the pre-arranged meeting point. It wasn't that far away and traffic was light, but they had to go through a series of intricate maneuvers supposedly to throw off tails and protect the confidentiality of the location. The meeting place itself was not much to look at; it was a low-rise office building in a poorly lit neighborhood. In fact, it blended in so well, it was hard to find even if you knew where it was which was probably what Musen intended. As Dr. Garrets pulled up next to the building three people Colin only guessed were Musen employees ran out to greet them. All of them were looking quite hurried. It made Colin feel special and a little scared.

"Please hurry, time is short." One of the Musen guys said as Dustin Garrets and Colin got out of the car.

"What's going on?" Colin asked but he was summarily ignored.

"Please follow us." The guy said. The three turned around and practically ran back to the building. It was all Colin and Dr. Garrets could do to keep up.

Inside, another man Colin recognized as Dr. William Reed, one of his original doctors met them. "Colin, we don't have time to explain in detail, please take off your coat and shirt and turn around." Colin hesitated.

"Quickly." The doctor said. Colin decided to just do what the doctor said. He took off his coat and after a short hesitation he took off his shirt. He approached the doctor bare-chested shyly, who was clearly annoyed at how slow Colin was being.

"Okay, turn around; I'm going to take out your tracking device. It's going to hurt a bit, but it needs to be done." Colin saw the doctor picking up a cotton swab and a tool he didn't recognize as he turned around. _What the hell is going on? I was told never to mess with the device they put in my back. Why would they need to take it out and why would they need to rush about it? Wait a sec, if they are taking out the device that means that they don't want NSA to track me. I wonder if I'm going to be going somewhere secret._ Colin could feel the chemical cool of alcohol being spread across the area the device was implanted. His thoughts were interrupted by the anticipation of the pain that would accompany the procedure. After a few seconds it came as his skin not too delicately pierced. Colin tried hard not to flinch as he could feel blood trickling down his back. He wished he could at least sit down through the process.

"Here. Keep this with you." The doctor handed Colin a small plastic bag with the still bloody micro transmitter when he was done. "Do not lose it. You're going to need it."

"What's going on?" It annoyed Colin that no one was explaining anything to him. He could sense something big was up but no one would tell him what.

The doctor held out two cassettes, one red and one clear, and a pill case. "Here. Play the red one on the way home and the clear one when you get home. Play that one privately. You are going to have to make a tough decision Colin. Make sure you think it through. As for the case, there are twenty-five type three pills in here. That's the rest of your treatment. Instructions are in the case." Colin took the cassette and case. "Also here are two new cell phones for you guys. There are three numbers in it: One for me, one for your transportation, and one for your new contact. We need to get out of here now. This location isn't safe. Good luck." Colin took the cell phone and watched as Dr. Reed ran out the door. Colin and Dr. Garrets were left in the room dumb folded.

On the way back home, Colin popped the tape into the deck as Dustin Garrets drove. _Finally, it's about time for some answers. _Colin hit the play button.

The doctor's raspy voice sounded throughout the car. "Colin, we are sorry this happened, but there was no way to avoid it. Unfortunately, it is no longer safe for you to stay in the United States. Apparently, this government has shifted its policy. They believe you are a great threat to them and according to our sources; they are going to move to capture you. There is a chance they might even try to kill you." Colin stared at the player incredulously. _How could this be happening? All I ever did was what I was told._ The tape continued. "We don't intend to let this happen. We have prepared an escape route for both of you, but there is only one chance to take it. An aircraft will be leaving with all Musen personnel that haven't already left the country Wednesday afternoon at five from La Guardia Airport. We would like you to join us, but you need to buy us a window from the NSA trackers. On the other cassette we outlined the plan we came up with. Remember as you listen to it that this is your only opportunity to survive as we see it. We trust that you will take it."

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Tuesday 11:32 AM: _It isn't like me to write down random thoughts, but I'm bored out of my mind here. I'm stuck in suspension. It turns out Jeremy saw the kiss and started a fight over it. The majority of my thoughts have been about Colin though. I keep wondering if we are officially a couple or what. He said he liked me, but does that mean that he wants to be with me? I guess I'll find out if I ever get out of this place. _

Two things nagged at Colin during the day Tuesday. One was that, according to Musen, he was going to be attacked anytime this week. The second was that Tory was nowhere to be found. As far a he knew, Tory had never been absent. Why did he have to choose now to go missing?

To be honest, Colin didn't mind using Tory to get away. After all it was a life or death situation and there was no good reason that Tory would be in any danger. The plan was perfect. The only regret Colin had was that he would not be able to pursue the relationship he had started with the boy. _Whatever, I wish he would show up so I can get this over with. At this rate, I might have to show up at his house after school._

By the end of the day, though, he was starting to feel more and more uncertain about the plan. He agreed with the decision, by Musen, to keep the details from Dr. Garetts. No good would come from complicating things that way. If this was going to happen, it needed to be done alone. It was just that there where so many unknowns and so little information. Colin fingered the sterilized device in his pocket. _Where is this guy? If he was at school he'll probably come through here._ Colin watched the students start to pile out of the school doors. _I'm just a little early that's all._ _I just need to wait for him._ Before long, sure enough, Colin saw Tory walking out of the school. Instantly, at the sight of him, Colin regretted that this was the last time he would be with the red head. He looked sow cute coming down those steps. Colin hoped that he could find someone like him wherever he ended up.

"Hey." Tory said. Colin considered Tory's body language. Something was wrong with the kid.

"Hey. I didn't see you in class." Colin said. Something about the way Tory looked so downtrodden was cutting at Colin's determination.

"Oh. I was suspended."

_What? _"You were suspended? Why?"

"Fighting…and kissing you." Colin was surprised by the story that followed. The kid was going through a lot over him and now he was planning to just going to disappear on him.

"That's pretty bad, I'm sorry you had to go through that." That was honest. Colin didn't want to see Tory get hurt or have to suffer. Colin had gone through a lot suffering in his life and was undoubtedly about to go through more. It cut at his heart to watch other people suffer, especially over him.

"Me too to be honest." Tory said back. Just then Dr. Garret's car drove up to the curve just on time as usual. "Well, see yah." Tory said.

Colin almost waved goodbye when he caught himself remembering the plan. "Wait. You want a ride?" Colin knew it was absolutely unlike him to offer Tory a ride home and he also knew that there was absolutely no way the red head would refuse.

Tory perked up on cue. "Would that be okay?"

_If the doctor doesn't mess this up. _Colin turned to the car. "Dr. Garrets, can we give my friend a ride, he lives across the street." _Please just do this. You and I both know this is against protocol. Just trust me. _

"Colin, you know that…," Colin gave the doctor a stare that hopefully said "please just do this." Dr Garrets looked back up at Colin curiously. "Fine," he said.

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Tuesday 7:30 PM: _…Colin still won't open up despite all that we did today. When I asked him what his secret was, he got all quiet and morose. I figure that he'll tell me when he's ready. Whatever it is he's just trying to protect me. I'll just have to trust him. He wouldn't put me in danger_…

"How could you do that Colin?" It was Dr. Garrets. Colin had told him about the plan and the guy wasn't taking it very well.

"As Musen said, it was my only chance to get away!" Colin shouted back. _Why doesn't he get it?_

"No it wasn't and you know it!" The elder man shouted back just as loud.

"What?" Colin asked confused.

"I mean, Colin, that there are several ways to ditch the device without planting it on someone. All we needed was a few hours; a trashcan at school would have done the job." Colin stared at him in disbelief. _Why did they tell me to do that then, there had to be a reason._

"But…" Colin started to make an excuse but he knew he had none. Colin was feeling sick now in more ways than one. He could feel a heavy relapse building and tried to suppress with sheer will. Unfortunately, that never worked.

Just then the phone rang up in Colin's room. Colin and Dr. Garrets just stared at each other a second. "Go get it." The doctor said. Colin struggled up to his room.

"Hello?" He managed out. He knew his voice sounded strained.

"Colin. Is that you? Are you okay?" _Crap, its Tory. Why did I give him the number? I must have just lost it for a second. He just seemed like he needed me so much, I was caught up in the moment. Whatever, I need to get the plan back on track no matter what Dr. Garrets says._

"Tory, I…can't…talk. Talk…At school…okay." Colin struggled through the sentence cursing himself for being so weak at a time like this. Colin groped for the pill case lying on his bedside table.

"Colin? What's wrong? Do you want me to come over?" Tory was clearly worried. It was the last thing Colin needed to have Tory come running over.

Colin needed to end this conversation. Now. "No!" Colin practically shouted out, but it still came out weak and raspy. "I'll see… you at school. Bye." Colin hung up without waiting for a reply. Fumbling with his pill case, he picked out two pills and popped them. _Stress. That's what triggers the bad ones. I need to keep myself calm. _In a few minutes, though, Colin was feeling much better, until his guardian knocked on his door.

"Come in." Colin said and he did.

"Colin, there is an almost certain chance that you gave him MC-198 you know."

"What? No way. He didn't have it after we kissed the first time. You get the symptoms in 24 hours right? Isn't it basically an STD?" Colin dismissed what the man had just said. There was no way that Musen would let him do that.

"Colin. The chances are slim with a single peck, as you know, the virus isn't easily transmitted. But, with repeated exposure, over a long time like you had last night, the virus had every chance to catch."

"How come no one told me not to do that!" Colin was mortified. _What have I done to Tory?_

"That's why we told you to keep out of close personal contact Colin"

"But, Musen, they told me to kiss him again." Colin was truly broken up. As always, he had just done what he was told to do. He didn't ask questions, everybody and everything was way over his head. There were always big power plays going on around the project and it was best if he just did what he was told to and quickly. _Why would Musen tell me to kiss him? _Suddenly it became clear. "It's because they wanted Tory to have the virus isn't it?"

"Colin, no one is blaming you. You didn't know."

"What…what should I do?" Colin asked.

"Nothing, this is what they wanted and it isn't mine or your place to interfere. What is done is done. We are just going to have to go along with the plan. Understood?" Colin stared at his guardian a second before nodding, but in truth he didn't understand at all.

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Wednesday 4:25:35 PM: _Colin didn't come to school today. It isn't unlike him to be absent. He has done it several times this quarter, but the call last night is cause for concern. Though he was obviously sick, he said he'd see me at school_. _Something could have happened. Tell mom._

Colin sat fidgeting in the back seat of his guardian's spare car. They were on their way to the airport to catch their chartered flight and had taken the second car hidden down the street to stave off suspicion. By this point Colin was a wreck. He hadn't slept more than a few winks the night before worried about Tory. When he did sleep, he had horrible nightmares about the death of his mother whose face kept morphing into Tory's. No matter how much he tried he couldn't ignore the guilt. He felt horrible. He hated himself for being so weak and easily used. Most of all, he hated himself for hurting the only person who really truly cared about him. Now, here he was, powerless to do anything about it and was so stressed that he knew he was near relapse. Thankfully and curiously, it didn't come.

At the gate, Colin could feel his worry and depression turn to anger. _How dare they do this? How dare they use me and tell me nothing?_ Colin glared at the Musen staff around him searching for the doctor who had prepared the tapes. _Lucky him, he probably got out first._ _Asshole._ An announcement broke into his thoughts. "All passengers on Virgin Atlantic chartered flight number 198 for London; we would like to begin boarding. Please form a line at the gate door." Colin got up and grabbed his bag. It was a small carry on with things he would need for the few days any multiple flights it would take to travel. He was told to leave everything at home and that Musen would buy everything he needed when they got to wherever they were going.

As he approached the gate, he heard some of the employees talking. One of them was carrying a small metal device with a display. "He's moving south, NSA probably picked him up by now."

"Who does NSA have?" Colin asked. "Is that Tory?"

The employee looked as if he had been caught with his pants down. "Hey Colin, when did you get there?" Colin was fuming.

"Answer me!" Colin yelled at the man.

"Colin, please calm down, let's just get on the plane."

"Stop treating me like I don't deserve to know anything! I'm not a little kid anymore!" Colin grabbed the device from the man.

"Colin, there's nothing you can do. NSA is heavily armed and they have almost limitless resources. Just give up and let's get on the plane. Pretty soon you won't have to worry about any of this anyway."

"Screw you! Screw all of you! You are just going to sit there and let an innocent kid get hurt?"

A few of the employees moved to block Colin's escape. The rest crowded around drawn in by the shouting. "Colin, you're the jewel of Gaia. The program only exists because of you. It was very important that you get away and we had to strike some kind of deal to buy some time…"

"No, I don't want to hear any more. I'm going to save him. Get out of my way!"

"I'm sorry, we can't let you go. As we said, it is very important that you come with us even if it's by force." Two of the bigger employees that were probably hired as security grabbed Colin's wrists. Colin felt the anger come to a boil, not only that, he could feel something else building. It was an energy that he hadn't felt before. He had never been in control of his life, he hadn't even wanted to be, but now his need to save his friend meant more to him than anything else. He _was_ getting out of the airport. He _was _going to do whatever it took to save Tory. He wasn't going to let anyone stop him.

Suddenly, something snapped. The world around Colin moved with such absolute slow motion that it seemed that everything was standing still and silent. He looked at the security guards that held him. Their faces were grimaced in pain. Like a frozen picture of agony. He looked at his wrists and regarded the hands that held them. They were turning gray. From the point where they touched him, they were darkening from their pale tan to the soft gray of death. The color was crawling slowly but unceasingly up the pair of arms. Colin grabbed his arms away and met no resistance. When he looked up again, he was met with many stares of horror again frozen in time like a portrait. They had backed off him, but Colin didn't see when, he couldn't hear their cries. Then just as suddenly everything came crashing back to normality and Colin's ears were met with the shrilling yells of the security guards in front of him. They were on their knees holding their arms in obvious hellish pain.

Colin didn't know what to think or do. This had never happened before. _Is this Gaia? Is this what I can do?_ Colin looked at his hands in wonder. In his right arm, the tracking device was still showing Tory's signal moving. That was enough to bring Colin past the shock.

"Dustin, give me your key." Colin never referred to his guardian by his first name, but the title of 'doctor' seemed too formal for someone associated with Musen. Not that the doctor had done this, but he sure hadn't moved to help him either.

Dustin Garrets fished the key out of his pocket and approached Colin. "Colin, I won't stop you. All I have to say is good luck. You'll be on your own now. Here." He tossed the key to Colin. "Here, take this too. They gave it to me in case your ability got out of control, but I think you need it more. It's a plastic charge. Set it with the knob and take cover. It isn't very powerful, but it's better than nothing." Colin took the device and stared at his former guardian with a new respect. _He does care about me. He didn't need to do that. _"Goodbye Colin."

"Bye…and thank you for…well for taking care of me the last two year. I'll miss you." Despite himself, he hugged his pseudo father.

"Me too Colin, me too. Now go do what you have to do." After a short embrace, Colin released him and started running for the exit. For Colin this was the beginning of the end of his life he knew.

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Thursday 6:53 AM

Tory didn't know what to say after he heard the full story. It was all just too shocking. There were still a few questions to be asked of course. Colin hadn't explained what happened at the warehouse, though he could piece it together from what he had heard.

They were both in the car driving nowhere in particular as the sun was starting to rise. It had been about an hour since they started driving and they were running low on gas. Tory figured out what he was going to ask. "So this Gaia virus, it's going to let me do that too?"

"I don't know what will happen to you honestly. All I know is they picked me because I was the most compatible person they could find. They told me the project would save the world. That with it, we could heal everything and bring balance back to the Earth. All that it's done so far is hurt people though."

"How many pills do you have left?" Tory asked.

"20." Colin answered.

"We're going to need more aren't we?"

"Yeah and these pills are the last phase of the treatment. They'll help you, but not very much and you're going to have side effects, but at least it will keep you from dying."

"Then that's our next step." Tory declared with clear conviction.

"What is?" Colin asked.

"We have to figure a way get more of these."

"I know, but how?"

"Musen of course." Tory smirked. Colin didn't know what he was so happy about; it was much easier said than done. He hoped Tory had a plan.

**AN: **Wow that chapter was, by far, the longest yet. I considered making it into two chapters or making it into a side story, but I decided to give it to you guys all at once so we would get back to the main story. Looking back, it was good that I kept quiet about Colin's side of the story for so long, it allowed me piece together an interesting story (or at least I think so). I've been planning this chapter or something like it for a while now. I hope I did well. Please review.

(yay! I broke 20,000 words)


	11. Demon Fist

**AN: **I'm back! After taking a long break, I'm back with chapter 11. Lots of lovely things are in store for Tory and Colin in the next few chapters. Why so long for the update? Well I was dealing with relationship issues and I didn't want it to leak into my story. Now I'm in college again so it might be longer between updates, but I'm back in business.

**To my reviewers: **Thank you for all the comments and generally nice things you said about my story. If you guys ever have any suggestions, feel free to tell me. I am an amateur writer after all and I can use some advice. It's also nice to hear what I do well. I'm anxious to put out this chapter so I'm going to cut this short a bit, but I'll respond to my chapter 10 reviewers with emails. By all means keep reviewing. Enjoy chapter 11.

**Chapter 11: Demon Fist**

One and a half hours earlier…

The NSA New York task center was a commandeered office suite in an area low rise. It was almost indistinguishable from a normal office except for one thing. The entire center wore the aura of purpose and discipline; something that well suited Jack Norton. After the fiasco at the warehouse, his capability as a leader was being questioned and his career may well be hinged on this effort. Norton knew the NSA's turn around rate was quite high at this level. Unless you had a political connection, every time the leadership changed the first thing they did was find replacements for the middle staff. Scapegoats; as if it was them to blame for all the shortcomings of the agency. Experts in their fields were indispensable but commanders and team leaders were a dime a dozen.

The discipline of the place was just what he needed to function at his best, though. At least Norton had complete control over what was going on his end now as the chief had given him expanded powers to manage the situation. He had more agents, more technology, and even access to the army should the worse occur. They had even been given a corny operation name, 'Operation Demon Fist.' It was by far the most complex and extensive assignment he had ever been given control over and he was fighing the feeling that he was thoroughly overwhelmed.

Assuring himself that everything was again going as planned; Jack Norton watched the blip on the tracking screen move away from the targets and smiled. _Took them long enough,_ he thought._ I was wondering how long they would make me wait to move the operation forward. They are probably going to drive away now in a different direction. I'll have to make sure the tails aren't sleeping on the job._ Norton picked up his radiophone and depressed the send button. "The tracking beacon is separating from the targets, report." Norton commanded through the device.

A crackling sound came back through the radio when he released the button. It was too long for Norton before the reply came back and Norton was about to repeat his message when the team leader responded. "Sir, this is Red Zero. The targets have been separated for the last sixty seconds. The yellow target went to the bathroom; the red target is still in the vehicle. Correction, the red target is moving as well. He seems distressed. Probably seeking the yellow target sir." Norton silently grumbled at that.

"I don't have to tell you to keep on them and keep out of sight. Their next move will probably be to drive away. Plant the NS07 in the car if you see the opportunity as planned. From now on report immediately any change in situation."

"Yes sir."

Norton sat back in his seat and planned the next phase of the operation. Until they received more intel, his units couldn't move so it was important that the bug and tracker planting went forward without a hitch. When and if that happened, he needed to be ready to activate his resources and make a move. Soon, though, his thoughts were interrupted. "Sir, you have a call from the chief. Should I patch it though?" The communications chief called.

"Yeah, go ahead." _This wont be good_. _He must have just woken up and read the report I filled last night._ Norton moved the operation papers around his desk fidgeting for the few seconds until his phone rang. After a short hesitation, he picked up his desk phone. "Yes sir, this is Jack Norton"

"Norton, when I woke up this morning, I expected this situation to be contained. After hearing about what happened, I gave you all the tools you needed." The chief's voice boomed over the receiver.

"Sir, we had some setbacks, but we are containing the situation sir."

"Containing? You have three agents wounded and you weren't even able to hold one powerless 15-year-old boy," The chief snapped.

"Sir, we were attacked. No one predicted that." Norton returned.

"You let him go without so much as a blood sample?" The chief chewed out officer over his failures for a few minutes and Norton decided to stand it a while until he could ask for what he really wanted.

When the man had finally blown out his steam Norton asked, "Sir I have a request."

"So. What do you want from me? You're handling the situation right?" The voice boomed through the headset. It reminded the young officer of drill sergeants in marine boot camp. The chief was loud, boisterous, demanding, and perpetually angry. Norton shortly wondered where this man had come from. NSA wasn't military. It was a domestic organization that mostly dealt with terrorist threats and other issues of great importance, but on a smaller scale than say a military campaign. Sure it recruited heavily from the war vets, but it didn't need to be run like a training camp. _Then again_, Jack Norton thought, _the new level of discipline about the place was exactly the environment I find it easiest to work in_.

"Sir, I would like to put the army special unit on standby now. I need your authorization to do that sir. The situation may change at any moment and we need to be prepared," Norton thought and added another "sir."

The chief hesitated. _Come on you old tyrant,_ Norton thought_, you know this needs to be done._ He didn't have to wait long."You have it. Don't disappoint me and don't forget our goals."

"Understood sir." _Time to move to the next step._

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Tory watched the sunrise through the passenger window of Colin's car. The pair had figured that it was best to contact Paul and Mary Blake so they didn't have to face everything alone. They had also figured that the move was so obvious that the NSA would probably pick them off if they got close to the house.

"So how do we do it?" Colin asked.

"We just have to figure a way that the feds won't figure out. They can't track us now right?" Tory said.

"Ever seen 'Enemy of State'?" Colin asked.

"Yeah with Will Smith? No way they could find us like that. They can't find serial killers and stuff, how could they find two kids in a huge city without using law enforcement or anything?" Tory said. He had to admit it unnerved him. The thought of satellites tracking them and agents popping out of nowhere was anything but comforting. Tory also had to admit that they were still in the same car Colin had escaped in and that they weren't being all too careful about hiding. Was it even possible to outsmart the NSA? Then the thought of serial killer made him wonder.

"Colin, by the way, what happened at the warehouse? You left that part out." Tory looked into the other's eyes. There had been so much lying going on in the past, in the back of his mind, Tory didn't know how far he could trust Colin now despite everything.

"Look I don't really know. I blew up what I thought was the power box and then Gaia thing took over." Colin looked honest enough, but then again Tory couldn't tell. He decided to ask what he was getting at directly.

"Um, do you think they are dead?" Tory asked.

_You mean did I murder them don't you_, Colin thought. "No! I mean maybe, I don't know. I don't want to think about it okay?"

"Fine." Tory took that as a maybe. Maybe Colin was a serial killer now. Maybe. Tory didn't see a way out of this other than running. _How long would that last? How long can I stand this? I don't want to live like this forever, I can't. I want to go back to school and listen to Mandy talk and pretend that I'm listening. I want to take my History test tomorrow. I want to hear my mom nag at me. Why me? What the hell did I do to deserve this? One freakin week is all it took to fuck my life up._

"Hey you okay Tor?" Colin asked concerned. Anger was so uncommon in Tory's expressions, but right now he looked either really pissed or upset or both.

Tory regarded the boy sitting next to him. "Look I'm fine. We need gas."

"Um, yeah." Colin looked at Tory for a moment. "You're mad. It's because I put you through all this isn't it. I don't blame you. I hate me too."

"I don't hate you— " Tory began.

"Listen, I was thinking. You don't need to be sucked into this like I do. No one but us probably even knows for sure you have the virus yet right? You can probably clear this up with them. You didn't do anything."

Tory looked out the windshield thoughtfully. "Nope. Even if I wanted to, which I don't, I can't. They could just kill me or make me disappear, no one knows what their plan is so I need to keep running just like you do. Besides, the pills you have are the only way I can survive anyway. You are also my best chance of getting more so I don't have a choice."

"I'm…you know I'm so…"

"Sorry? Yeah I know so don't be so harsh on yourself."

"Tory maybe you can just arrange for some pills from Musen. Maybe they can make them here." Colin said.

"You trying to get rid of me?" Tory asked.

"No…Tory, look, you asked me if the guys at the warehouse are dead. I really don't know, but I know that right now I would do anything to save you. Anything. I have a cursed gift. I have the power to protect you, but at the same time it put your life at risk. Whatever you do I'll do my best to protect you, but I want you to have a normal too. I don't want this for you. I love you." Colin spoke straight from his heart. He could feel the pain that he had caused Tory as his own.

"I love you too you know. We've had this whole conversation before. I'm not leaving you and I don't blame you. I blame the feds for probably chasing us and Musen for be a general asshole. Let's just get gas, then lets figure out a way we can be together without all this crap killing the mood."

Colin stared into Tory's eyes for a second and was reminded how much the green orbs captivated him. The guy was so caring loyal and giving. _I may not deserve you, but I'm glad you're with me. _"Alright," Colin said but it didn't feel like enough. "I love you a lot Tory." Colin started the car and started to reverse out of the parking space they were in.

"Back at yah love."

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Mary Blake and Paul had spent the night awake while Paul dug through the classified Gaia Project information on his computer. The stuff was fascinating though somewhat incomplete and no help whatsoever in helping Ms. Blake find her son. Stress and worry was well enough to keep her up through the night, the coffee didn't hurt either.

"So. What do you think we should do Ms. B?" Paul asked as he minimized the files on his computer screen. They had gone through all they could and it was not helping the current situation.

"Oh Paul I don't know. It depends on how in much they want to keep this secret. I mean I can see how horrible this would be for the guys in charge. They might do anything to keep this from blowing up."

"Then maybe that what we should do." Paul brightened up.

"What?" Mary Blake did not get it immediately, and then it dawned on her. "Oh, we blow this up."

"Yep, I figure the only thing that can sway the US government is the US media. But how do we do it? Its got to be done right."

"CNN, MSNBC, FOX, all the major networks have outlets here. We deliver them a story, and they do the rest for us. Save what we got on a disk and make copies and let's hope today was a slow news day."

"Okay…Done. I'll make two or three copies just in case," Paul said just as his computer, the lights, and everything went dark. The sudden darkness startled them silent and when they focused their senses, they could hear voices and movement outside.

"Its them." Mary whispered in the darkness. Time had run out, they were too late. "Paul hide did you get the CD?" Mary asked groping in the dark as her eyes adjusted slowly to the predawn twilight.

"I just got it out when the computer went out. They are coming for us now aren't they?" Paul asked. "What should we do?"

"Hide the disk Hide it somewhere they wont find it. That's all we have, all Tory has. We can't let them destroy it and we can't wait for another chance." Someone was banging at the front door. Once, twice, a pause and then Ms. Blake could hear the door being broken in to. It was only a matter of seconds now.

"What now?" Paul asked, fear leaking into his voice making the words crack a little.

"Is it hidden?" Ms. Blake asked. Several footsteps were leaking into the house and spreading over the lower floor.

"Yeah floor boards, what now?" Paul thought a second. He reached up to his desk, grabbed his pocketknife, and scratched something into the floor. Footsteps were working up the stairs now. No way out, but then again there never was.

"We walk outside and give ourselves up. Its up to the boys now. Put away the knife, they don't need an excuse."

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"The subway." Tory exclaimed when he and Colin got out of the gas station with a full tank and forty less dollars.

"You think we should get on the subway?" Colin asked.

"Yeah, its perfect. Out here they can just do anything they want and follow us if they wanted to. In as subway, there is no way they'll start sniping or crazy stuff like that."

"Yeah and they can't track us in there that well either. Even if they planted us or something. Hmm, that was a really cool idea. Where do we go once we're on the subway? You think we should go to— " Tory placed his hand over Colin's mouth. "Wha—"

"Bugs, you reminded me. How do we know they can't hear what we are saying right now?" Tory whispered.

"Yeah but we haven't seen any sign of them. I thought they could just be waiting us out, but nothing?"

"If we're going to survive, we got to outsmart them right? That means being careful and predicting them. They haven't given up right?" Colin nodded. No, there was no way they would give up. NSA was doing everything possible to take care of this incident.

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Jack Norton stood over his surveillance analyst's shoulder listening to the conversation beaming from the NS07 chip the squad was barely able to plant in the car earlier. "The subway, huh?" Norton scratched the stubble growing on his chin. "That would be hard I got to admit. They are forcing me to make a difficult choice now."

"Jack? What's the plan, it's your show." The analyst looked around at the commander. First name basis was common here amongst his colleagues despite the regimen required every time he communicated to the top brass or to the commandos on the field. Communications specialist Fredrick Mathews had been working on other assignments with Jack Norton for the last seven months and they had learned to depend on each other and had even become close friends.

"Do I have the army ready to back up an operation Colonel?" Norton asked his chief liaison.

"Yes sir. All ready sir. Are we moving?"

Norton thought it over for a minute. Using the military was a big step and it was an urban area no less. The agency could count on one hand how many times it had to resort to this since the World Trade Center incident even with the increased mandate and power of the National Security Agency. As the quiet stretched on and started to become awkward, Norton stopped hesitating and made his decision.

"Yes, but we aren't moving on the kid. We are redeploying defensively. We aren't dealing with terrorists here, they aren't out to destroy us and they are running out of time. We can run circles around these guys, no need for casualties or messy fights."

"Orders, sir?" The army colonel asked with little interest in the speech the NSA officer was making. Action mattered most and the captain was looking forward to a fight not that he would admit that openly.

"Yes, I want you to station a squad at the house and two at the holding area for the mother and friend to beef up their situation. Snipers are most effective, but don't use force unless I give the orders. Meanwhile, our agents will track the targets as best they can."

"Yes sir. I'll tell my men." He left the room. It wasn't quite what the colonel wanted, but at least they were moving now.

"Fred, what's the situation in London? Has the plane arrived?" Norton asked his comms expert.

Mathews glanced at his secure channel's communication log. "One sec. Um, yes, twenty minutes ago after the delay caused by a medical emergency at this end. They have all Musen staff that tried to escape last night in custody and interrogations are underway. The Brits are cooperating with us fully and they are due to report soon on what they find according to the latest update. It says HQ will pass on the relative information to us after the process it. It also has a commendation on the intelligence we provided on the flight from the NS07 bugging." Fredrick Mathews answered back.

"Good. I would have preferred to have put a missile into that plane with the Stevens freak on board, but then again it wasn't up to me." Norton said.

"Now it is." Fred answered

"What's that?"

"Stevens, he's in your court now." Fred said.

"Yeah I guess you're right he is."

**AN:** One more chapter down. Please read and review and I'll try to update soon.


	12. First Strike

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. This is a creative interpretation of the graphic novel OffBeat

**AN:** Read and enjoy and review! I'm back and so is Finding.

**Respect for my reviewers:**

Only five this time so here goes:

**NiennaAngel:** I'm glad you liked that chapter. I'm not sure everyone did but I'm going to try to finish this story as well as I can manage so please continue reading.

**wonder1440:** Thanks, I hoped to update soon too, but late is better than never.

**-'.Angel And My Star.'-:** I'm really curious what Gaia will actually turn out to be. I figure Jen Lee Quick will have something special in store for all of us. Thanks for the compliments though.

**Mika:** Heh, thanks.

**Satski: **I hope you keep reading. I'm glad I'm your first.

Chapter 12: First Strike 

"Are you sure we should do this?" Tory asked Colin.

"You're asking me? This was your plan." Colin responded.

"I know, but if we ditch the car we can't ever drive away again. We'll be on foot from now on. I don't like it." Tory fidgeted in his seat.

"Do you want to stay in the car?" Colin asked.

"Not really. I. I just don't know."

Colin wanted to offer some assurance, but he didn't know what to say. A silence stretched on in the car until finally Colin spoke up. "Well. Do you know how to get to a station from here anyway? I'm don't go to Newark a lot."

"I don't know. PATH crosses the river but maybe we should go into Manhattan by car anyway."

"I dunno. I have no idea what our goal is here. We can't be just running forever can we?" Colin asked.

"Nah. Our chances are better if we do something about it. Lets just not talk about it until we're safe…well safer." Tory responded.

"Okay, does that mean we're taking the train?"

"Yeah. Take the next right, we're going to head towards 78."

"Good 'cause I'm not all that great at driving in the first place. Highway is easy."

"You're doing fine. We haven't crashed or died or anything yet right? That's good enough."

"Yeah I guess. I just have a permit after all. Hey you have a really good scene of direction by the way."

"Um thanks, I kinda memorized the map."

"The whole thing?"

Tory blushed. "You never know you know?"

"But the whole thing? There must be thousands of roads."

"Most of it yeah."

"Hmm okay. So where do you think we should head to get on the train?"

Tory thought a minute. "Grand Central. Can't go wrong there."

"Yeah…Grand Central sure." Colin pulled off the road onto a dead-end alleyway. The action was sudden and took the redhead by surprise. They were soon engulfed in shadow as they drove deeper into the alley. Two apartment buildings loomed on both sides of the small sedan and Tory couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in the confined space.

"What's up?" Tory asked.

Colin unbuckled his seatbelt and Tory did the same instinctively. "Let's make out," Colin said, his voice unmistakably serious. It was not a question or a command, just a statement, an offer. Colin gazed into Tory's eyes and held it not flinching. Tory thought he saw something deeper in the gaze. Fear, lust, love? Tory could not put his finger on it, but it seemed so honest. He also could not stop thinking how beautiful Colin was. Even though they had slept in a car the night, he looked stunning. His slightly disheveled hair framing his so-cute face just made him look more enticing, but now was not the time for kissing was it?

"What? Now?" Tory asked.

"Why not? Don't you want to? We might never get to again right?" Colin said and Tory didn't answer immediately. The temptation was all consuming. Whatever Tory had come to learn about Colin had not diminished his affection for the boy. _Yes. Yes I'd love to, _was what his mind thought, but his body was already making the contact. Tory slid his hands around his love's neck and then down his back as he leaned in. Colin responded sliding his hands around Tory's mid exploring the familiar lithe figure. Tory felt a tingle at the contact. It traveled from where Colin touched him all over his body in a wave of pleasure.

Closing his eyes, Colin covered the rest of the distance to make desperate contact with Tory's soft lips and kissed him passionately. Colin moved his hands up under Tory's shirt and rubbed them up his back. Caught up in the rapture, Tory moaned. Neither of them noticed the vans maneuvering to trap them in the alley nor the dozen special operations personnel pouring out and maneuvering into position. No, all Tory Blake and Colin Stevens felt before it was too late was the body next to them and the taste of the other. So warm, so sweet, so beautiful.

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"Camera two in three. Try to relax Mr. Reed."

Despite himself William Reed could not. It was not so much stage fright, but the weight of what he was about to do that put him on edge. He could very well disappear right after the broadcast. To become an enemy of the state at this point was very dangerous, but for what it was worth, this was the least the doctor felt he should do. Fidgeting was all he could do to stay in his seat.

"One minute, then we are live," came the sweet all business tone of the camerawoman. _She's cute, _thought Reed. _She can't be more than about twenty-three._ _I wonder how many people she has already sentenced to death with that camera._

The reported started, "That's right. Sitting next to me I have Dr. William Reed from the Musen Corporation who was a former top research scientist at the company operation out of New York. Can you give us a little insight into what is going on doctor?"

"Yes I hope so."

"What exactly was your position in the company?"

"I." Dr. Reed had to catch his breath and start again. "I was head of the Gaia Project's main subject's supervision team."

"The Gaia Project?"

"It was what we called the genetic research project that started the string of arrests in London you are hearing about."

"The spotty reports we are getting suggest that the Musen Corporation was conducting very dangerous research. Some are calling it an act of terrorism. Can you tell us exactly what Musen was trying to develop?"

"Yes, but what is important right now are the victims of all of this."

The reporter cocked an eyebrow at that. "Whom exactly are you referring to?"

"There are two children in grave danger right here in New York. Mortal danger."

"Are you saying that Musen will harm these children?"

"No. Not Musen."

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"Stop it! Stop Firing!" Tory screamed, though he was barely heard if at all by anyone. Tory crouched behind the front car and buried his head in his knees. The scared teen closed his eyes and covered his ears trying to will what he was going through away. _How many did I just see die?__Three? Four? Oh Colin it isn't worth it to become a serial murderer just to run away._

Then the gunfire stopped abruptly._ Is it over? _He had not decided which result of the battle would be worse. Slowly he opened his eyes and saw three men in full military gear pointing rifles directly at him. Tory's heart broke.

"Give it up. Now. Or we shoot." One of the solders shouted behind Tory. Momentarily confused and very concerned, Tory could not resist the urge to get up and look a sign of the other boy.

A gun barrel drove him back down. "Don't move," came the command and Tory obeyed. "If you're thinking you can take all of us out, you're wrong. We will shoot if you attack. Will you risk it? Killed resisting arrest is just as acceptable as apprehension." _What? Oh they aren't talking to me. If you are okay please make a sound Colin._

Silence.

"Surrender. This little game is over," Another solder said. This one was behind Tory where Colin was.

"Don't you dare hurt him!" Tory almost did not recognize Colin's voice. It was seething with anger, hate, and agony. The solders, though, did not flinch. Tory remembered the old Colin then. It was the Colin who would not let anyone get close to him. It was the Colin that would snap a jaw at anyone who came near. The Colin of mystery and distance had become the one of openness and love and now, here he was the Colin that killed. _All to protect poor defenseless me. There has got to be something I can do. Anything._

"That's you're choice to make. Or we can just wait until you bleed to death." Tory couldn't hold back tears. Tory couldn't remember crying in years, but it seemed that this week made him do it repeatedly.

It had happened in seconds. One moment the two of them were caught up in each other and the next military types were approaching them from behind, trying to surround the car. Tory was first to notice and in panic he jerked Colin off him. In the shock of seeing so many coming up on them Colin's ability manifested again. Two of the closest on the left side turned to gray dust in seconds. The others hesitated for an instant and Colin grabbed a very shocked boy out of his car door behind him.

Then the firing started. Colin was almost immediately hit and Tory could see another solder turn to dust as they scampered to the front of the car. Holding his bleeding shoulder Colin told Tory to stay down and turned back to face them alone. Suicide. No chance. Tory felt so useless.

Now through the tension and stress of the moment, Tory distantly realized that he felt very cold. Suddenly another wave of shivers came over him with and without warning he felt weak and collapsed back against the car behind him. A cold sweat collected on his forehead.

"Sir what should we do? This kid looks sick. He is sweating really bad too." One of the solders watching Colin asked.

The commander was slightly annoyed at this. "Hear that Colin Stevens? Your friend isn't looking too good. If you care about him at all, you'll surrender."

Colin gave a short pause before hanging his head. "Fine I surrender as long as you don't hurt him."

"Smart kid—"

Colin was not finished. "If you do, you will die. I promise."

The man signaled with hands. "You understand that we will have to tranquilize you. Don't worry, this wont hurt a bit." Two sniper rounds came down on the boys before they could react.

**AN:** I'm back! Here it comes. I've been sitting on a half-completed version of this chapter for almost a month now and I'm sure I've lost readers but I will finish this story before Volume 2. Hopefully. Please review. Oh and please tell me about errors. When I post my story, something about the system causes errors to appear.


	13. Gaia

**Disclaimer:** Behold, I do not own OffBeat!

**AN:** Here is the next chapter for yah. I usually wait for a certain number of reviews or hits before I post a new chapter so I'll release this in the afternoon.

**Respect for my reviewers:**

**-'.Angel And My Star.'-** A little yaoi is always nice. I'll make it as long as the unforeseen doesn't happen.

**NiennaAngel**- Thanks. I have a really huge ending (in my opinion) in mind so we'll see how it turns out.

**wonder1440:** You wont have to wait too long. I plan to put out at least one to two a week.

**angelofmalice666:** I thought I lost yah. Thanks for reviewing. I couldn't catch those spelling errors. I am using a really crappy laptop as opposed to the tablet I used for the first ten chapters. Even if I had a more recent copy of Word it would be better.

**loveissharmful:** I expect that cookie!

**Satski:** Thanks for reading. I'm glad you enjoyed. Expect more alert emails soon. Here is chapter 13 of Finding.

Chapter 13: Gaia 

"The Gaia Project was based on an astounding breakthrough in biological research conducted by Dr. Lucius Ramirez in the late 1970s in the Amazon. While studying the population cycles of a particular breed of plant eating insect, he found that populations grew rapidly before the plant started to flourish and fell dramatically when the plant started to struggle. Which kept the population of that plant almost constant. Though these cycles are common in nature between plant eaters and the plants themselves, this one was peculiar because the populations seemed to predict the future instead of reacting to current conditions. Upon further research, Dr. Ramirez found that at the beginning of each cycle, a few of the plants would send out a signal to the insect that would either induce growth and reproduction or cause a quick death thus keeping the plant from being over harvested or overpopulated." Dr. William Reed explained.

"So you are saying the plant somehow controlled the insect population?" The anchor was growing weary of the lecture and he knew his audience would be too. He contemplated taking a commercial break if it did not end soon, the managers were already signaling for him to do something.

"Precisely and not only that particular plant. Subsequently, the same transmitters and receivers found on the plant and insect were identified on several other species in the area. In 1991, after nearly a decade of searching, Ramirez and his team finally found receivers in humans as well."

"Wait, you mean that there is something that can simply kill us like that insect?" _Forget commercial break for now._

"Yes. Well not exactly. With the right transmitters, it is possible to cause several cells to die quite quickly, but it is also possible to cause them to divide and multiply. It all depends on which transmitters you use. To cause death would require a very strong concentrated singnal."

"It sounds like a weapon doctor." The anchor asked.

"No, no, it has the potential to heal if used correctly."

"And the potential to kill. How far did this research get exactly?"

"Well at Musen we were very excited at our successes in using biological means as opposed to common synthetic means to create the transmitters. No one even came close with any other method. After over a dozen subjects, we were able to get the needed traits to stick and grow spectacularly in one very special subject. To our surprise we found a second, even better one, but it was too late by that time."

"You don't mean that you experimented on humans do you?" The anchor tried to hide a bit of his shock for the audience.

"Yes we had to. No other substitute had the metal capacity to control the process and we needed to use adolescents because their brains were still developing. I assure you we broke no law. The US government fully supported us."

"And the _child_. Where is he, what is his condition?" _How can he say that so indifferently!_

"I have not seen him since last night. I would imagine that your government has captured or killed him by now. Both of them probably. The only reason I agreed to this interview was to protect them should they still be on the run. You must see their value to society is immeasurable."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Jack Norton paced slowly about the task center. "The story broke. It was the doctor we could not account for." Fredrick Mathews reported to his commander. 

"It was bound to happen. The apprehension at Heathrow was so messy. If it had been NSA, we could have handled it flawlessly, but no matter. Now we are just shorter on time." Jack Norton said.

"Colonel." Jack called out to his liaison.

"Yes sir?" The colonel came off his headset and turned to face the NSA commander.

"We are ramping it up. They got authorization on a field raid on Musen company headquarters in Romania and the Romanians are cooperating on this one so we are green to go on this end. We need to wrap up the situation and fast before the public starts reacting." Jack Norton said. "What's the status on the little monsters?"

"Not good sir. They are sedated and traveling here. Stevens is suffering from bullet wounds but is stable and Blake is suffering from some kind of ailment sir."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tory was standing in a dark room. No I am outside. There are trees here, Tory thought. All color was drained by the darkness, everything hinted in black and dark gray. An ambient light focused on him was all between him and the pitch-black abyss. Tory looked down and saw he was standing in a puddle of water. 

"_Christopher." The voice was a woman's. It echoed through the darkness, deep and deliberate. _

_Tory looked around for a source. He could see none. Only a sense of a powerful presence told him he was not alone. "Who is there?"_

"_No one." Came the reply, deep and omniscient._

"_Where am I?" Tory asked._

"_No where," the disembodied voice again replied._

"_What are you?" Tory asked._

"_Gaia." All at once, the ground disappeared and Tory sank down through the puddle. Immersed, he tried to hold his breath at first but soon gave up. He sucked in a huge wet breath of the water and, realizing that he was okay, looked around. All he could make out now were luminescent bubbles floating upward and a vague sense of being underwater. He could also again feel the presence of another. Tory turned around to see his mother crouching below him holding her stomach. Pain evident in her face. Pain and unconditional love._

"_Tory dear." She called out to him._

"_Mom!" Tory tried to embrace her but he could not get any closer._

"_Mom, I can't reach you, hold out your hand." Tory called out, but she only crouched there staring blankly._

"_It hurts. She hurt me Tory."_

"_Who did? Mom, what's wrong?" Tory pleaded at him mom, but she did not respond. Rather, she faded away into the darkness. "Mom!"_

"_Tory. I told you to leave her alone."_

"_Paul?" Tory turned around again to see his friend. He was bleeding and obviously also in pain but strangely smiling._

"_You fell for them didn't you? His kisses were just too good huh?" Paul cracked a smile._

"_Moron…what happened? Where is this?" Tory asked._

"_Gaia. She caused fear, anger, hatred, pain and suffering." Paul said._

"_And death. Many deaths. She hides herself with death" A second voice came. Tory looked around and still could not find him._

"_Colin I can't see you." Tory said. "That's you right?"_

"_It is time to wake up Tory, there is still something you need to do. Get ready. We aren't done yet." Colin's voice said._

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thursday afternoon. Mandy Townslan was sitting in Physics watching the clock when the announcement came.

"Attention students this is you principal speaking. We have just come to the attention that two of our students have gone missing for the last 18 hours. If anyone hears anything from Colin Stevens or Tory Blake, please contact my office or the police immediately. In addition, I would like all teachers to turn their televisions to channel 6 at this time. That is all."

The class erupted in murmurs as the teacher set up the TV. Mandy did not know what to think. She had found it odd that they were both gone on the same day, but she had no reason to believe anything was wrong until now. _Oh please don't let anything bad happen to you guys, _Mandy thought as the TV came on. An attractive woman speaking in another language in some unrecognizable city was shown on the screen.

"…reports that the explosions reported in eastern Romania were related to the arrests in London. We are also getting unconfirmed reports that the Musen corporate headquarters is located in this area and may have been the target of a US led attack."

"Are you serious, are we at war again?" One guy said.

"Shhh…I want to hear this" Mandy snapped back.

"…a full scale battle broke out between an unknown force and the US military and escalated in minutes. There are rumors circulating around of some sort of betrayal. You can hear the sound of explosions almost constantly from here, as much as fifteen miles from the battle zone."

"Oh God." One girl gasped.

"That was from an affiliate from a Romanian media source recorded thirty minutes ago. We are still unable to get a response from the White House or the Pentagon. According to law, the President can authorize military action for a period of ninety days without congressional approval. At this time we are not sure if congress has approved this or the President has used his power. We are going to turn now to our correspondent here at the studio…"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tory woke up dizzily. _Van, two guys guarding me. Handcuffs. No other restraints. They have rifles. No Colin here._ _They aren't paying attention to me. Why?_ Tory could hear screaming muffled through the metal surrounding him and before he knew it he was thrown against the other side of the van as they came screeching to a violent and bumpy halt. _Colin…_

"What's going on sir? Sir? Can you hear me?" One of the guards was panicking. He whipped his gun towards Tory. "You did this didn't you? You fucking monster! I'll fucking kill you!"

The soldier heisted just a moment as the rear door slammed open which threw off his shot. The bullet ricocheted harmlessly off the armored wall of the van and out the rear door. Colin, standing in the opening raised his hand and simply said, "I told you what would happen." Two less soldiers made it home that day.

"You're getting good at that aren't you. Wait a sec, you don't have a scratch on you."

Colin did not even wait until he had freed Tory of his handcuffs. He was too excited. "You felt it didn't you?" Colin asked.

"What?" Tory asked.

Colin cocked an eyebrow confused. "The Gaia. You had a vision right?"

"The dream?" Tory asked. "Wait shouldn't we get out of here?"

"Yeah, yeah soon enough. You felt her right?"

"There was a voice in my dream, it had called itself Gaia." Tory said.

"She spoke to you? That's incredible Tory. Do you have any idea what that means? She's real!" Colin asked.

"My Mom. Oh God, she's in pain. And Paul." Tory shrieked.

"We'll save them Tory. But right now, we have to find someone," Colin said, "He'll know what we should do." Colin got the set of keys from one of the fallen soldiers and worked at Tory's handcuffs.

"Colin, you're not making any sense. Who are we finding?" Tory asked.

"Dr. Lucius Ramirez. He was the first to speak to her. No one believed him, but now…" Colin finally unlatched the cuffs and Tory flexed his freed wrist. "I have Dr. Reed's phone number. He should know."

Tory watched the other boy take out his phone absently and tried to figure out what was going on. He did not like being in the dark. Especially since the last few hours had been trying their best to kill him. Tory closed his eyes and tried to sort it out. _The dream was a message I'm guessing. Colin, my mom, Paul, and this Gaia thing were in it. From the dream, everyone seemed to blame Gaia for their pain. Is it evil? I know that this whole thing keeps getting people killed, but the way they said it, they weren't blaming the project or the government. They were blaming her. Okay, I want to find this guy now too. Maybe he knows something. _

_All right, now what about Colin. He keeps killing people. He can do it from a distance and it seems like it's easier each time. He took them all out this time when he could only take out a few in the alley. Now he's all healed? What is the extent of his power really? Did he heal himself? Why did I wake up, wasn't I sedated? Why am I not feeling sick? I haven't had my medicine in a while now. Did they give it to me? Maybe. Even if they did though, it never completely worked, but now I feel great. Not even woozy anymore. Maybe this is part of Gaia too. I should ask Colin when I get a chance. Maybe this guy, whoever he is can sort that out too._

_Mom and Paul. I still don't know what's going on with them. They don't have a reason to hurt them do they? The dream isn't too comforting. They were both in pain in it. Last I knew they were at home. I mean it makes sense to go after them for information or whatever, but can I really trust the dream? I got to hope they can hold out until we can save them. I think our best bet might be this guy for now. I can't think of anyway I can help them right now. Colin might be a killing machine, but I'm basically powerless and we still don't know where they are._ Tory opened his eyes. Colin was holding the phone to his ear.

"Hello? Colin?" Dr. William Reed asked.

"I need to get to Ramirez. Are you going to help me or not?" Colin said.

"Ah Colin! Glad to see that you are still breathing."

"Well?" Colin asked.

"Yes? Oh. Of course I'll help. I've been waiting for you to call. I have something for you. It seems the world has gone to hell in the last twenty-four hours you know," the doctor responded. "Not that it wasn't already pretty atrocious."

**AN:** That's chapter 13 for yah. Please, please review. I also would appreciate it if you guys tell me if I make spelling or grammatical errors. It nags at me when I make a mistake and can't find it. 30,000 words strong. Almost a novel.


	14. Lethe

**Disclaimer:** I don't own most of the characters.

**AN:** Well I have school to worry about. I didn't make my deadline, but I got some reviews asking me to continue so I will finish this story.

**A note to everyone who reviewed:** Yes the last chapter was confusing. That's because I haven't explained everything yet. Thanks everyone for the great reviews. After I complete this story I'll go back and try to fix all the little typos. You guys keep me going so please keep up the reviews.

Chapter 14: Lethe 

Paul opened his eyes sorely and glanced around but saw no one. It took more than a few seconds for him to recognize his surroundings, but as suddenly as his memories came back so did a pounding headache. _Shit, they could have been a bit gentler, _he told himself._ They didn't have to hit me, gag me, and blindfold me. I would have gone with them at 'Freeze.' Christ._

He was in a cell. Gray walls and solid bars gray bars. No windows, nothing but a blank wall across the bars. There was nothing at all to look at really but a hard concrete bench and a somewhat lonely looking toilet across the cell. It was clean at least, seemingly unused, but that only made it feel that much lonelier and inhuman.

Paul could not tell what time it was. For some reason his watch was taken from him. It was disorienting not being able to tell how much time had passed, but Paul figured that was intentional. No one had tortured him. No one questioned him. No one bothered him. No one had even spoken to him since the night before. Only occasionally would water and food emerge from tray in a slot in the wall. Now three times for water and twice for food. Beyond that not even a clue as to how long they would keep him or what they intended to do with him. Nothing to do but worry and contemplate the absurdity of the situation he was in. Paul had tried yelling, calling out to Mary, making threats and promises, but he never got a response.

Paul tried not to let the silence and solitude get to him. For a while he was just so exhausted that he could sleep, but now it seemed that he had slept too long and his headache was too much. Paul laid back staring at the featureless ceiling above him. _I hope they aren't trying to bore me to death. That's probably the lamest way to try to kill someone. _Paul rolled over and stared a bit at his toilet. _I hope Tory and that Colin kid figure something out. I have to figure they haven't been caught yet, or something would have happened right? Does that make sense? There is no point in just keeping me here like this forever is there? I have parents and stuff. I can't just disappear._ Just then Paul heard a sound and then a door opened on the other side of the bars. _Oh there's the door. I thought that was just a wall._ Two uniformed soldiers came through followed by a thirties-something man in a work suit.

"Open it." The suit man said. The bars slid into the wall.

"Finally! I was getting lonely. Here to beat me up some more? I know I might seem like a terrorist, but I'm really not. Hey, you know what? I'll trade my new bike for some rights. Like a phone call or something. Now I know its not that new, but it still rides pretty damn well." Paul said.

"No more speaking. Come with us." The suit man said simply.

"No really, I throw in my computer for like a lawyer or something. Now that is one sweet piece of technology."

"You want to see your friend and his mother again correct? Shut up and do what I say." The suit man turned around and headed out the door. The solders simply and silently dragged Paul off the bench and out the cell. _He didn't even flinch. I guess I'm not going to get any rights. Well fuck him then, I'm not doing shit for these assholes._

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Yes? Oh. Of course I'll help. I've been waiting for you to call. I have something for you. It seems the world has gone to hell in the last twenty-four hours you know," the doctor responded. "Not that it wasn't already pretty atrocious."

"Whatever. Where is he? I'll find a way to get to him on my own." Colin snapped.

"My, my. I think you should know where I am first." Doctor Reed responded. "You see I'm at NBC 4. I thought the world should know about all our little secrets."

"What? You can't. If people knew, they'd…" Colin could not finish his sentence. Colin had figured that the worst was already happening. Now almost nothing could save him and Tory. Colin glanced over at Tory whose worried expression was obvious.

"Yes, that right. I figure if they knew the extent of the power of Gaia, everything would change. Surely hunting you would be a priority for some, but it is my hope that they will see the potential in using your power. For them to cage you would be such a shame, would it not? For them to go to war over you…I cannot let them have you."

"You bastard." Colin whispered.

"Watch it Colin." Doctor Reed roared. "I hold your cards here. If you do not want to have to fight the entire US military with that lovely lethal touch of yours, you will have to work with me. You will meet Ramirez. He will explain to you everything. Good then, everybody will have what they want correct?"

"Just exactly is it that you want with me?" Colin asked.

"Hush. Do not worry yourself with what I want. I will have Dr. Ramirez meet you in two hours. Do stay alive until then. I would not stay around Hillside much longer if I were you."

"How do you know where I---" Colin was cut off by Tory grabbing the phone.

"Hello?" Tory asked.

"Hello. Is this _the_ Tory Blake?" The doctor asked intrigued.

"Listen, I am sick an tired of being led around by the nose by you guys. Who the hell are you and why the fuck should we trust what you have to say?"

"Such language for someone so young. Well, I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Doctor William Reed and I am currently your only hope for survival."

"Bull. We have been surviving pretty damn well without anyone's help. Why should we trust you? No don't answer that, I don't trust you or pretty much anyone right now. Just tell me what you have to offer me right now and I'll decided whether or not I tell you to shove it." Tory yelled into the cell. Colin sat wide-eyed watching Tory but did not move to take the phone back.

"Well, I would say it is smart of you not to trust anyone, especially that lovely death god you spend your time with. It may help you live a bit longer. What I am offering you is only information. I will show you to everything you want to know about the Gaia provided you move as I tell you to. That's a good deal right? I would imagine that you would want to know what is going on to you and your good friend."

"What I want? What I want!? I want to home. I want to go to school. I want to have a boring life. I don't want any more information. The more I know, the more screwed my life gets. Right now, all I want is to survive and unless you are going to help me do that, piss off."

"You may feel that way, but is it what Colin wants? Anyway, you aren't done yet. I know. I know you Tory. You are curious. You can't leave things half-figured out. Some part of you wants to know the truth doesn't it? You can't have a normal life anymore Tory. Do not live in a fantasy," The doctor responded.

"Shut up." Tory said.

"In two hours, I will arrange for you to meet with the leading expert of Gaia research. I will contact this phone in ninety minutes. Do stay out of trouble for that long. Goodbye Tory." The phone clicked off. Tory let it drop out of his hands onto the scruffy curbside grass. After the phone fell a tear.

Colin moved to place an arm on Tory's shoulder, but Tory suddenly picked up the phone and stood up. "He'll call back in an hour and a half. Let's move," Tory said tossing the phone to Colin.

"I think he's tracking us. He knew where we were." Colin said. "Hey are you alright Tor?"

"Let's go. Unless they are complete morons, they'll send someone out here to find out what happened to guys who grabbed us." Tory responded.

"Okay…um, here are the meds. I found them in van they had me in. You should take one now." Colin handed a pill to Tory and took one himself.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Colin picked himself up and started walking beside Tory. "He also said something big is going on. I think he told the news about gaia and us. He also said something about a war. I think we need to find a TV." Tory didn't respond. Instead, his hand found Colin's and he interlocked his fingers in Colin's and the pair walked together aimlessly away from that site of so much death and damage hand in hand and without another word. It would be enough for now that they still had each other.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Mandy left physics when the bell rang. After twenty minutes of watching the news, nothing new was being reported and the announcement came to return to the normal activities for that day.

The battle was still raging of course. The United States and British forces were locked into it with what seemed to be the Romanian and the Russians, though neither were issuing statements and the identity of the enemy remained somewhat vague. The reason behind the battle was vague as well, at least to the media. Musen created the Gaia Children, as they came to be called, and someone decided that it was important enough to save Musen to go to war with America over it. Musen itself was still unharmed as US and British forces were forced back to base and could not guarantee enough air superiority to send in an air strike, which left them on the defensive. So far the decision had not come through to launch a second attack, but fighters were being mobilized. Beyond this, the news had no information. No one was speaking. No one, that is, but a Dr. William Reed.

He was everyone's source. Reliable, knowledgeable, insightful, the news ate him up. He was quickly becoming the go-to man for information and analysis for the media, and thus the American public. Millions of homes across the world listened to every word he said greedily and only when he said he needed a few minutes break did anyone really start to think about what was going on. Only then, were they able to organize their thoughts and ask questions. Little did he know that by the time he returned, a mere ten minutes later, a little doubt had been sewn into the hearts and minds of the world and none would quite take him at face value again.

Mandy, though, had heard, as the world had, about Gaia and what was happening to Tory and Colin. It was surreal. Her classmates hovered around her asking questions. She answered all she could, but she knew almost as little as anyone else did. The one thing she did know that the world did not was that Tory Blake was in love with Collin Stevens and would stick by him no matter what. It was more than a hunch for Mandy. Something about the way Tory spent so much time obsessing over the guy even though he thought no one else knew. Something about the deep blushes that covered Tory's face when Colin smiled. Even the way Tory got into a fight with someone much bigger than himself without fear, not really to defend his own pride, but knowing that the guy had bullied Colin. Mandy knew that Tory had a kind, loving heart, and an obsessive nature. If those two were combined and focused on one person, nothing could separate them. Mandy kept this to herself. It was hard enough with everything going on to complicate the situation she knew.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

4:35 PM Thursday.

After ninety-five minutes of aimless, and thankfully eventless wondering, the phone in Colin's pocket finally rang and Colin fished it out. "Its him." Colin considered a second then handed the cell to Tory. "Here you answer it. I think it better."

Tory took the phone without protest and flipped it open. "Yes?"

"Tory? I see. Well, a black limousine will pull up to the curve in two minutes. Get on it. Inside, waiting for you, is a Lucius Ramirez who just arrived into Newark. He will tell you everything. Even more than I know. I will meet with you three when I can." Tory heard the doctor hang up and closed his phone.

"We're supposed to wait for a limo. I guess they know where we are. Someone named Lucius is in the limo." Tory told Colin, handing him back the phone.

"Yeah that's him." Colin said. "This is it Tor."

"Yeah." Tory said back.

"Are you scared?"

"I don't know. My heart is beating really fast. I have the feeling something is going to happen." Tory said. "Are you?"

"Yeah. It could be a trap." Colin said.

"I know. I'm not afraid of that though. We fell into plenty of traps and we're both okay." Tory answered back. He could see a long black car make a turn at an intersection two blocks up the street. "I think that's him."

Colin grabbed Tory's hand. "I wont let anything happen to you."

Tory looked at the boy beside him. "I love you Colin."

"I love you too Tory." Colin said back and pecked Tory softly on the lips. "Here we go."

The limo pulled off the road in front of them and the rear door opened revealing a somewhat haggard-looking middle-aged man full of smiles. "Tory. Colin. I am Dr. Ramirez. Please come. Sit. We have much to talk about." And so Tory and Colin got in.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"After my initial discoveries in the rainforest, I found that there were two distinct forces. One of life and one of death. Both of them would work together to accomplish great things. The force of life came to be known as Gaia. It was hypothesized that Gaia was the sole being that ran the ecosystems. The super-system. It was not so, though. Gaia was only half the power. There was also and anti-Gaia. This entity came to be known as Lethe, the death-bringer. Together, Gaia and Lethe were all the systems and energies behind all life on Earth.

"You see, the Gaia Project that Musen created was based on the assumption that one could synthesize the powers that kept life in check. It also assumed that Gaia was no more than chemicals and receptors. They assumed that they had just evolved along the way. The also assumed that they were in control of their own destinies. They were so wrong. You see, the Gaia Project was really Gaia's project." Ramirez came to a pause in his lecture, which had been going on for some time now.

"You mean the real Gaia?" Colin asked.

"You see Gaia is more than just chemical reactions." Ramirez said.

"We know," Tory said. "Gaia spoke to me.

"Me too" Colin said.

"Amazing, but that only proves what I already knew."

"What's that?" Colin asked.

"That is, you are the second Lethe Colin." Ramirez turned and smiled at Tory. The look sent chills through the redhead, as he knew what was coming next. "And you are the second Gaia Tory. All as she planned"

"Why?" Tory asked.

"I have an idea, but it would be best for you to ask her yourself, wouldn't it?" Ramirez answered.

"How? I don't know how to speak to her! It just happened once." Tory said.

"Just dream." It was Colin. "Gaia talks to me when I sleep. She showed me that I love you. You dream about me too right? I think she's been trying to get us together."

"Gaia made us fall in love?"

"No," Ramirez said. "You two fell in love. Gaia just helped it happen."

"Why?" Tory asked.

"Ask her." Ramirez said and offered Tory and Colin a pill. "Take this." Both Colin and Tory eyed the pill warily. "Trust me. If not trust Gaia. No harm will come to you." After a short second's hesitation, they took it.

AN: Chapter 14 complete. There is one long chapter left. I haven't been able to get a copy of the new Volume yet, so I wonder where Ms. Quick will take her story, but mine is almost done.


	15. Jealousy

**Declaimer:** Nope, I don't own Tory, Colin or Paul. You wouldn't sue me would you Ms. Quick? Please don't. Pretty please.

**AN: **I dunno, I guess I just feel out of witting once I read Volume Two. Well here is some more Finding.

**To the reviewers:** Keep it up! It is really because of you that I found the motivation to finish this chapter.

**Chapter 15: Jealousy**

Thursday 4:35 PM

Tory forced down the pill without water after two tries and clenched his fists, bracing for whatever was about to happen. He was almost disappointed when nothing happened right away.

"Whats up? Nothing happened? What was that pill anyway?" Tory asked.

"You ask a lot of questions don't you? Calm down, it will take a little while for anything to happen, but it shouldn't be long. Just relax" Ramirez said. _There is enough sedative in there to knock a normal guy out in a minute after all. I figured he'd be able to process it a bit, but this... He doesn't even seem phased._

Tory felt something bump into his shoulder and jumped at the contact. "It's just me. Sleepy." Colin eyed Tory a second and leaned back against Tory's shoulder.

"Sorry.." Tory played a bit with Colin's hair then stopped himself when he saw Ramirez intently watching them.

"It's okay. Don't mind me." Ramirez said. "It's kind of cute. You know Gaia and Lethe are both girls."

"Aren't they spirits or something? How can they be girls?" Tory asked and resumed playing with Colin's hair.

"Good question. Well the answer is that they aren't really sprints of course, they are kind of human, but they aren't really human either. You should ask her yourself and tell me. I would like to know more too."

"Whatever, I'm just tired of not knowing whats going on, you know?" Tory said.

"Me too. I didn't know much more than you to begin with you know Tory." Colin said.

"Well, its not like we ever have time to figure stuff out. Crap, I feel so naked without my notebook." Tory said.

"Notebook? What do you mean?" Colin asked.

"Oh, um... well I have notebooks, actually they're more like diaries. Well more like...well I guess diaries sums it up, but I write everything down in them."

"Really? Where is it?"

"Well, I had it until I was tranqed... I didn't see my bag in the van and I guess I wasn't thinking about it."

"Tory, is there anything in it that the feds don't need to know?" Colin leaned up so he face Tory.

"I don't think so. I haven't had that much of a chance to write stuff down since I started getting sick. That one just had a bunch of embarrassing stuff about me kissing you and stuff." Tory said.

"Oh I see." Colin said and Tory quickly blushed. "Thats cute." Colin smiled and Tory blushed a deeper shade.

"Its hard not to forget you guys are still just kids," Dr. Ramirez said. "You've been through so much and its just the beginning. Are you starting to feel tired by the way?"

"Not really." Tory said. "You Colin?"

"I did, a little, but not any more." Colin said.

"I see. That must be Tory's doing." Ramirez said.

"Me? I just sat here, you saw me!" Tory exclaimed.

"I believe you, it was probably subconscious, but in any case, we have a problem." Ramirez said. "Stop the car," he told the driver. "Unfortunately, we don't have time to waste anymore so we're going to have to do this different way."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Useless. Get him out of my face. We don't have time to deal with this now." Jack Norton yelled in frustration. "Such a fucking waste of time." A pair of solders dragged Paul out of the room as another pair ran in from the other door.

"Sir?"

"What?" Norton glared at the solider addressing him. "Oh. Yes, its time. Please initiate the attack. I had hoped to use the boy a little longer but we can't afford to be delicate anymore."

"Yes sir!" the young soldier bounded out of the room to find contact his commanding officer and a seat on a Black Hawk.

Norton paced a bit thinking. A smirk found its way onto his lips. _One whole day to mobilize the guard. Well at least if this doesn't work, the joint strike force will be ready with an endgame solution to the problem. We are not dealing with a kid anymore, this is full on war now._

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thursday, 5:10 PM

A soft roar could be heard through the walls of the car. Tory thought he could make out helicopter blades. The sound was starting to get louder. Yes, definitely louder. It was then Tory also realized that it had suddenly darkened considerably outside. Snow. It was snowing. Large, beautiful flakes drifted gracefully to the ground. Tory remembered playing in the snow the year before and smiled. There was that one ski trip his mother took him that stuck in his mind. Tory remembered how much fun he had and how everyone had told him he was a natural. To think that he could be good at a sport and actually have so much fun at it. Tory idly wondered if he could make it again this year. It was always hard to get his mother's schedule to match up with winter break.

"Time to go Tory." Some soft voice echoed beside him. Tory thought the words sounded like rain. Soft and delicate. Something you could appreciate if you just stopped and really listened. Something that sent shivers through your body when it touched you. Then a hand took his and Tory looked down at it and appreciated the warm feel of the soft fingers that held his own. The contact was electric and Tory could feel it everywhere. The growing bulge in his shorts amused him. Tory let those hands and that soft voice lead him out of the car. He felt he would let them lead him anywhere.

Somewhere deep down, Tory knew that everything was still very wrong, but for some reason everything about the outside world melted, evaporated, and flew away like leaves in a warm summer breeze. Gaia. Tory loved Gaia. She was so warm and loving. Everyone just needed to step back a hear her and they would love her too. Tory sighed and looked at the war machines swarming in the sky He watched one of them came in lower than the others and land near them. Engine sounds drowned out everything while an intense artificial wind washed over them churning up the soft snow from the ground in large waves.

Soft, warm hands led him towards it and rain words told him to fasten himself as the machine lifted into the sky. Into heaven.

Dr. Ramirez looked over at Tory with a mix of envy, pride, and concern. He has done it. He fully integrated Tory and Gaia. Of course it was not his own doing that caused this transformation, but he merely broke the final mental barriers that allowed Tory to speak to Gaia directly and draw on her powers at will. What he didn't expect was the speed the serum he had given the boy transformed him. The strategy was simple; place as many of the anti-inhibitory drugs into his system as possible to counteract the insane healing speed of his system. After dose after does of the serum were injected, Tory finally reached the desired point and went unconscious if only for a few seconds. It was then he made full contact with Gaia. In mere seconds, Tory changed. The proud, talkative boy had now become a mute, answering only in sage like (or simply drugged looking) smiles and nods. Ramirez now wondered whether Tory truly understood and agreed with the plan or if he was simply enjoying the sound of talking while the scientist was explaining as his smiles and nods could be interpreted as either.

If it was the latter, then they would surely die. Ramirez was relived they hadn't done the same with Lethe/Colin. The sound of explosions broke his train of thought. One helicopter had fired in their general direction and missed entirely destroying a tree in a small park they were flying over. Ramirez looked over at Colin.

"Its Tory. He made them miss I think. I hope. Either that or someone really didn't like that tree." Their helicopter lost a bit of altitude and hovered close to the tops of houses trying to deter attack as they made steady progress towards their target. The strategy would not work when they left the Tri-State, but it was working now.

They were in a military chopper. American-owned and operated, except right now it was defected over to Ramirez's cause by a single Musen operative in the NSA. A marine that had happened to find his way between Norton and the attack orders. The only real trump card Ramirez had left in the deck. Enough confusion was caused by the defection to allow a single window of escape, but now that window had closed. The order to attack had obviously been given out. Only time would tell if they made it now and that time was down to ninety-five minutes in the air against the Civil Air Defense. Fortunately, very little remained of the US military at home with a triple war front abroad.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Not even Gaia herself would be able to stand up against the entire US military and survive. The truth was that there were limits. Gaia did not want to combine with Tory just yet but Ramirez overcame those barriers. Now her own powers were diminishing and Tory was left in control; young and inexperienced as he was. Wisdom was her last gift to Tory. It gave him a deeper understanding and it was her only hope for the future.

Gaia's spirit graced her realm. The light of her life emanated from within her, illuminating everything in a soft warm glow. She stood on the shore, on the surface between the air, land and the water. The three domains of life. She felt herself fading fast. Shadows crept in from the edges of her realm. Darker more malevolent forces lurked behind the black curtain now eating away at the air water chilling it and making it freeze. One half of her power would be gone soon.

Lethe was not wasting time now. She felt her time was coming. She told herself to be patient, that everything rested in careful timing now, but yes, very soon her control would be complete.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"A long time ago," Tory's voiced resonated loud through the headsets above the constant roar of the engines. It made everyone turn their attention to him. It was the first words they had heard from him in half an hour. They were the first words since he changed. His voice was strange as he said things he could not know using words he did not use. Almost possessed. Their pilot quickly switched the radio so the haunting monologue was broadcasted on general frequencies. Dr. Ramirez fished out a notepad and jotted down furiously.

"Gaia and Lethe governed this world together with a gentle hand. Lethe, the goddess of the cold and the dead, ruled over the icy regions top and bottom of the planet and Gaia, the goddess of the live and warm, ruled the tropical central regions. Lethe loved Gaia and in her love allowed her life-giving will to dominate the Earth. Species arose everywhere and life raced across the land and covered all there was with great variety of creatures. Huge beats walked freely across the world sucking in the rich life-giving air and thriving in the warm wind. But Lethe grew jealous over time and drew away from Gaia. She saw Gaia's influence over Earth thrive and grow while her own diminished. Feeling betrayed, Lethe locked herself away in the southern land and watched Gaia's love for life push her father and father away. Over one hundred million years, jealousy turned to anger and then hate as Lethe vowed that she would destroy Gaia's world if she was ever given the chance.

"Then a chance event occurred. Sixty five million years ago, one rock from the sky smashed near the center of Gaia's domain and for a time weakened her. Lethe used this chance to wage war and in the end killing three fourths of all the life that was. Lethe's cold hand reached over the land and before Gaia could recover, the death-bringing ice turned her world into icy grave. Gaia fought back and for fifty million years the deadly ice and life-giving warm drew back and forth across the planet.

"Three million years ago, in frustrates stalemate, Gaia created a new plan. She would give life to a power greater than her own.. Slowly she worked on her creation keeping it far away from Lethe's domain until its power grew. No other life required so much careful tending to and so no other life had nearly as much potential. Forty thousand years ago, Gaia unleashed her creation on the world and watched it swiftly cover every corner of the mainland. Lethe was taken aback by this new form that she could not kill even as the traversed deep into her region. So fragile-looking were they unlike the previous invasions Gaia had sent, but yet nothing Lethe used against them would temper their will.

"Finally Lethe gathered her power and fifteen thousand years ago unleashed an awesome attack to destroy the new form. Again the planet was covered mostly in the Lethe ice. Several great lifeforms vanished, but the new form, though nearly wiped out, did not die. It used the ice to cover even more land and spread to every island and continent. They brought other life with them as they traveled to every land. Everyone except Lethe's own home in the south where her power was too strong.

"Gaia's victory seemed assured until seven thousand years ago when her prised creation exceeded her power and influence. The new life no long lived on the land, they changed the land and as they changed the land, their power grew even more. Unlike Gaia and Lethe who's power was innate and beyond thought, the new life, these humans as they now called themselves, began to attempt understand and control the world around them. Working together, they manipulated the world with their tiny hands and soon no barrier could contain them. It seemed that no other life than that they used concerned them and a thousand years ago, the great destruction began.

"Lethe saw this and found a strategy in promoting the growth of these humans and facilitated their campaign of destruction. She laughed as she watched one half of all life terminated in less than one hundred years, a feat even beyond her. She stood in awe as the humans found a way to make their own cities and islands vanish and exalted at the liberal use of these weapons.

"Gaia still saw hope in these humans and watched as they slowly changed their ways. Twenty years ago, she did the unthinkable and revealed herself to the humans. Unknown to Lethe, she had prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. Working with extremely short timescales unknown to the goddesses, Gaia created her own progeny. It was a singular power as great as her own and in wisdom she created a second power the same as and as great as that of Lethe. Their power would come one part from her and one part from the great power of the mind of man. It would exceed and replace the powers of old.

"Half year ago, Lethe found of this plan and not so willing to give up her control has since tried everything in her power to destroy it. As the winter grew near, her power over this land grew. Her power is greatest when it is cold enough to turn water into ice and she can swoop down from her northern realm deeper into the land. Once Gaia's powers had started to transfer to her children, she became weaker. It was then, all at once, Lethe used her influence to attacked us. For fifteen years, Gaia learned the language of man so she could communicate and today was the first time she succeeded. Now her powers could be transferred along with her wisdom which was most important.

"The snow occurs when the cold wind from the north reaches the warm wind from the south. It is a battle between Lethe and Gaia and this time, Gaia will surely lose. Once that happens, Lethe will attack again. The only weakness Lethe posses is her delicate, slow moving hand. This is the history of the world till the end of Gaia," Tory finished and blinked amazed at himself.

"Tory?" Colin asked. "How..."

"I don't know. Everything Gaia tried to tell me just hit me and it just came out of my mouth."Tory said.

"Tory, this is very important, how do we fight Lethe." Ramirez asked.

"I don't know." Tory answered.

"You have to" Colin pleaded.

"I said I don't know!" Tory yelled. "How the hell am I supposed know what to do? This is all just so stupid. Where are we going? I want to rescue my mom before we do anything."

"Tory, we told you. We are going to NSA's headquarters to talk to the chief, thats our best chance against the military," Colin said. That made Tory stop and think a second. Tory thought the plan made sense.

"Wow this is truly amazing Tory. I really envy you know. Is there anything else you can tell us?" Ramirez asked.

"No. I don't know. I don't know how that came out of my mouth. Gaia was in control, not me. I don't know anything." Tory said. Colin placed a comforting hand around Tory's shoulder and hugged him close.

"Relax. You don't have to worry about it. I know it seems like a lot okay? I just...I donno I just feel like everything will work out when the time comes. Just believe in yourself okay Tor? Colin said.

Tory snuggled up closer to Colin and nodded his head, "I'll try my best alright? I just don't know if that will be good enough. I'm really scared, but I think...I think it'll work out somehow too," he looked up at Colin's eyes. "I love you," he said.

"I love you too. When we get our powers, we wont let that change okay?" Colin said.

"Yeah. You know, I think you got the wisdom from Gaia and I just got to be her mouth piece."

"I doubt it, I mean you have always been so smart." Colin said. "And cuter."

Tory blushed. "Not true. You have been way above my head the whole time here and um.. you know you're way cuter."

A third voice cut in then. "Sorry to interrupt, but we are about to have incoming. Whatever it is you are going to do, you need to do it fast," the defected marine said eying the dozen or so aircraft swooping in from three sides. Without warning a chopper launched a barrage of missiles and bullets. Nothing, not even Tory and Colin could stop it. Someone was going to die.

**AN:** Yep, yep, back. Finding is back with not one but two chapters to finish off the story. For some reason, I have been getting some reviews recently and that encouraged me to pick up the story again after the long hiatus. I kinda rushed to get this out so tell me if there are errors.


	16. Midnight Sun

**Disclaimer:** I don't own OffBeat

**AN: **Time for more Finding. I would really love some more reviews. The last few times I've been so excited when I finished a chapter that I didn't respond to the reviewers at the top of the chapter. I'll start doing that again so I get some more feedback.

**To my reviewers:**

**wonder1440**: You have always been so cool. Thanks for keeping up with my story. Hmm, I wonder who lives and who doesn't. Hmm...

**Zen-yuu:** Yay a new reviewer. Yep I saw your review and it made me pull up my half-completed chapter 15 and start writing again. Tory and Colin are so cool and cute, I almost feel bad for putting them through all this.

**julia**: Thanks. I will definitely write more, enjoy.

**Chapter 16: Midnight Sun**

Rockets roared and Tory could feel the helicopter sway with the force of the explosion and then again at another. The armor hull creaked in protest to the shock waves. Tory looked around confused about the source for a moment until he saw a fireball through the window and heard the soft pelting of debris against the hull of their own chopper.

"Someone fired on their own," came their pilot. "I don' know who it was, but I have an idea. Hold on, someone is trying to talk to me. I'll patch it through."

Their headsets clicked and another voice joined them "...I tried to delay them as long as possible. I'm chopper ID SH-156. Request help..."

"I didn't know he got onto a chopper, he was supposed to stay at base," their pilot said.

Colin stood up. "How many guys do we have out there," he asked.

"Two, him and me. Thats all. Everyone else is enemy. Eleven count."

"Okay, turn around, we have to save him." Colin said.

Ramirez was stunned, "Colin, child, it is two against eleven. It is far more important that we stay ahead of them and survive right now."

Colin snapped, "I'm not talking to you. Be quiet." Colin grabbed a support strap from the roof as the helicopter swayed a bit. "Whats your name?" The firing started again. This time it was further away. The other chopper was in trouble.

"Don't tell me you forgot my voice already buddy."

"Nathan?...it's you isn't it?...How? Then that must be Hank. You know we have no choice then." Colin said.

"Colin..." Nathan said as the sound of another explosion rocked the chopper.

Tory, as usual, did not have a clue about what was going on, but he could easily tell that time was not on their side. He broke in. "Don't worry I'll help. Just do it now or he dies." Tory got up as well and took Colin's free hand, placing his other hand in the support strap. _I mean I hope I can help._

Nathan saw the formation closing on radar. Somehow he already knew what his decision would be even before he stepped into the chopper, before he had even Colin's face or heard his brother's voice on the radio. _See you on the other side buddies. I'm so sorry it came to this_, Nathan silently told himself. _God forgive me for what I am about to do. _His homage was done. "Alright. Can't argue with the spirit of the Earth, lets save him."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

20 minutes earlier

Second Lieutenant Hank Myers followed his younger brother's chopper closely, trying to stay ahead of the lead. His gunner behind him held the trigger nervously. Orders were flying around. "This is command, awaiting confirmation of defection. Pursue targets and await further orders."

"I can't believe old Nathan would do that." Gunnery Sergeant Nicolas Craft said to his pilot.

"Listen Nick, he had a good reason. I want you to do this one favor for me when the order to fire comes. I want you to hit the ground and call misfire. Thats all I'll ever ask of you buddy. I'm going to call the favors from before man. All those times... just please do this for me. Just buy some time."

"Hank...man I can't fire on old Nathan, thats just fucked up. Sure man I'll do it like you said. Misfire to the ground."

Almost immediately then, the order came through. "Please engage rouge chopper BH-2803." A simple request. Clear and precise. They were just incidentally informed that it was time to murder Hank's brother. The decision must have taken thirty seconds to filter through.

Hank cut in and swooped in closer, putting himself between the lead and his brother. "Roger, engaging." He said and kissed the cross he wore around his neck. His gunner fired then and the missile launched out straight towards the black hawk. Less than a hundred feet from the chopper, it veered down and hit the trees. Hank's heart was in his throat.

"The missile veered on its own! Repeat, they moved the missile." Nicolas yelled through the comms. Hank could see that Nick had moved the targeting beam at the last second. T_hat was damn dangerous. The autotrack could have failed_

"Craft, are you sure? Red two, try again." asked their operational commander.

"Sir! They lost altitude. If we fire now, we'll hit civilians. Suggest we wait until they leave urban airspace." Nicolas said.

"Roger. All units, pursue out of the city. Red one through three will flank right, six through nine flank left. Lets chase them out of Newark. Heading 270." Hank mentally noted that if they survived, he owed Nick whatever he fucking wanted.

After that the going was slow and nervous. As one of the flankers, Hank knew that they would not be taking the second shot when it came. The formation they flew now would not even allow Hank to have a view of the target. He was sure it was intentional. Nobody was a big enough of an idiot not to see that he would want to protect his brother, just nobody was saying anything. Hank filed away those worries for later.

Taking note of his location, Hank saw that the houses were starting to spread out a bit now, it would not be long before a second attack came. It was then that his brother's chopper's comms system came alive in his headset. "This is first lieutenant Nathan Myers. Please, just listen." What followed was a fantastic story. If hank had not seen and heard what he had, he would have thought it was nonsense. Twenty seven army dead. That made it real enough for Hank.

In his ten years in the marines, Hank had never thought of defecting. He was loyal to the bone and had gone in and out of combat countless times with his brother and the rest of his squadron. Two and a half years ago, his brother was pulled from the unit and was assigned as the Marine Corp/NSA liaison attached to the Musen agreement. It was a promotion. He was given an officer rank and flown to Europe where the job was simple. He had to keep a military eye on the Musen projects and was ordered to terminate if they went beyond the protocol or if they became a matter of national security.

During the two years working with Musen, Nathan had grown attached to the project. He felt sorry for the kid Colin as he suffered through the treatments. Guarding him was the hardest part. His job was to "terminate" this boy that looked reminded him of his own. Somewhere along the line he decided that he would make the boy's life as comfortable as possible in that cold Musen facility.

They shared food and stories on Colin's time off which was never long and a friendship grew between the two. Nathan began to see him as his second son and Colin came to think of him as his surrogate father. More than once, Nathan had pulled some string to keep Colin safe.

When Colin turned fourteen, the NSA asked Musen to move Colin stateside for security purposes and off he went. Nathan was supposed to stay and keep intel on Musen in Europe, but Nathan immediately applied for a transfer and by an act of God, the stretched thin military granted it. It took Hank a lot longer. His entire unit was transferred stateside to shore up the Northeast Coastal Defense after a review by some organization found that the northeast was particularly vulnerable to terrorist attack.

As soon as Musen became a target, his unit was activated and again they were launched into war, just this time, stateside. Nathan was called back to NSA's regional command center. Some good men lost their lives in the NSA before Hank's squadron was called, but for Hank, it was good seeing his brother again after two years. It was midday that a full army squad was ordered to track, trap, and capture Colin and the boy he traveled with. Twenty seven on the easiest mission in the world. Hank remembered joking in the lunch room with Nathan and Nick about how he would probably be sent back to base that afternoon when this was all over. Nathan was tense though, and he told Hank how much he was worried about the boy's safety. Hank laughed and assured him that they had tranq darts and there was zero chance they would open up on the boy.

Thats when the report came in. Six casualties. Six good men died catching two unarmed teenagers. There were no wounded either which everyone found a bit disturbing. In any case, they had succeeded in the capture. Mission completed. It was not fifteen minutes later, a second report came in. The targets had escaped. There were no survivors this time. Things became very real after that. Hank's captain brought the rest of the squad from base to compliment the three marine choppers already stationed at NSA. Hank was to stay and run liaison between the air squad and NSA for the captain. While the rest of the squad arrived and got ready for combat. Nathan ran out of the room then to find the comms center.

What Nathan did not know when he took the black hawk was that Hank was reassigned at the last minute to fly NSA's own special ops comanche with Nick. The captain stayed back himself and left a different captain, a new addition, in charge of the squadron. Nathan was rash, Hank remembered that he was always this way. Without warning he joined their squad as red thirteen. Everyone accepted the addition of their old comrade without issue. Hank was ecstatic being on a mission with his brother for the first time in over two years. All of that was shattered when, again without warning, he landed right outside the target and took off with the boys.

Now there they were about to attack again. He could almost feel the squadron leader getting ready to order them to fire again on their own old squad mate. His brother. The order came in crystal clear. "Red four and five, move in on the target and fire at will."

"Sir! That my brother in there." Nathan found himself yelling. Both helicopters hesitated.

"Red Two, that chopper holds a threat to national security."

"No one fire! Don't kill Nate!"

"I know how you must feel, but twenty seven people died today and I'm not going to have a repeat in this squadron. Your lives and national security have to come first."

"No. We can't. You can't just sit there and tell me to watch Nathan die." Hank yelled.

"He's right captain, we can't fire on him. We're going to have to wait until they land." It was Nick.

"I am giving everyone ten seconds before I do it myself. You are treading on dangerous ground Meyers." the captain said. No one made any move.

"So thats how it is. I guess I will have to do this myself. For the honor of the marines, I will stand up and protect this country and avenge the deaths of the heroes who died today." the captain drew back and pointed his chopper at the black hawk guns and missiles on the ready. That second drew out. Hank knew the next second would see his brother dead. It was the pivotal moment of his life. This single moment was all that mattered or would matter from now on. Hank acted without thinking. He rolled his chopper behind Red One and unleashed the turreted guns on his own captain. Immediately, two explosions ripped through the shopper as its fuel tanks were hit. _No one kills my little brother, _thought Hank as he watched the chopper fall to the ground in pieces. In a surreal peace, Hank felt righteous and vindicated.

"Hank. Hank! What did you just do? They are going to kill you now. Kill me!" Nicked shrieked.

That reality hit him then. "I..I. I killed him."

"Thats right man you did, now what?" Nick asked. Hank made no answer. "Well, I can't say it wasn't stupid, man use your head. I just want you to know that I'm with you. Not only because your brother, but those kids don't need to die. I believe in your brother, he is the finest solider I have ever known," Nick said. "If any of what we heard on the radio was true, we should be protecting those kids instead of trying so hard to try to kill them."

The radios crackled, "This is the commanding captain of the 135th Sabers. Given recent events, Red Two is ordered to de-alititude immediately. Red Five through Twelve will pursue and destroy the target and Red Three and Four will guard Lieutenant Myers and Sergeant Craft."

"No!" Hank yelled.

"Don't make me give the order to shoot you down, you will get yours in court," the captain spat.

Nick spoke up then, "Captain, don't you get it, we will all die if we destroy that chopper."

"Nonsense. Sergeant, they are threat to all of us. Thirty dead so far. For the soldiers who died and are yet to die we must end this now. They are America's enemy. You all know what you need to do, what you were trained to do. De-altitude immediately lieutenant. That act of murder makes you an enemy of America as well."

Hank hesitated. Nick spoke up, "I'm with you. To the end."

Hank opened a channel to the black hawk then, "Nathan, listen to me. I tried to delay them as long as possible. I'm chopper ID SH-156. Request help."

"Last warning lieutenant. There is an F-22's en route that will definitely listen to orders if three and four don't. Whether its right now or in pieces, you will on the ground." Hank did no respond. His palms were drenched in sweat under his gloves. Seconds past. Hank could here his own heartbeat. Red Three and Four moved in. Hank knew the order was given. Now his radio was cut off from the rest. It was his last chance. Hank didn't know what he should do, what he could do. Nick, Nate, two boys and his own life were hanging right there on the line in front of him. _The world or red squad._ Hank had decided.

"Fire at will." Hank said to his gunner.

"See you on the other side of hell buddy," and the war began.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Colin focused his abilities for the fifth time. It was getting more natural. His range and speed were improving. The dreamlike frames of death and agony that accompanied his first experience smoothed out and gave him the ability to see beyond the walls of the helicopter. It was a skill he had once used when he took down the convoy. Not two hours since he killed so many, Colin was living up to the name of Lethe, the goddess of death. He felt shame holding Tory's hand evn while he focused on the lead chopper killing the pilots immediately.

"Colin, get the second chopper after Hank, I'll swing around and take out the one coming in from the right" Nathan said.

"No good, he's out of range. Move closer, I'll watch our flank." Colin said.

"Roger." The helicopter swooped pivoting on a dime and flew back on their course. The battle had turned dogfight now. Colin killed a second leaving nine. Hank was swinging around with Red Four as three more choppers left the Nathan's black hawk to assist. The remaining five went after them.

Hank's chopper was the now canceled advanced comanche helicopter. Only fifty were ever produced. It became the NSA/DHS's own homeland defense vehicle. It's abilities far outweighed a standard marine cobra helicopter about two to one. As good as it was, it wasn't going to out fight four to one. Hank, saw the incoming choppers and set his sights on Red Four firing rounds from the gun turret. The cobra dodged and followed with a round of rocket fire to which Hank rolled to the left out of harm's way. Nick fired his own rockets and hit the target sending the cobra barreling. Eight left. No damage so far. Four more of his comrades dead.

Nathan pushed up the throttle and gained altitude, pulling back on his stick so one pursuing chopper flew beneath him. Colin took care of it and another coming in from the right. The sound from a choppers hitting dirt echoed a few seconds later. Nathan had problems keeping from being hit by the pilotless choppers barreling at them from the right. He pulled his stick back and to the left as hard as it would go. The downwash from the blades rocked the black hawk as Nathan barely avoided it. Six left.

More fire echoed from the black hawk's own guns, but were easily avoided and answered with fire by two cobras approaching from both flanks. Bullets riped through the midsection of their chopper as Hank dodged a rocket from the right. The bullets were piercing through the armor plating flew through the cabin around Tory and Colin. One hit Dr. Ramirez flat in the chest, exploding it. Tory knew he was dead beyond even his own power. Tory felt so useless amidst the carnage. He let go of Colin and ran to Ramirez stumbling over the seats and focused as best he could. Remarkably the doctor stated to heal, his chest closed up and in seconds he looked fine despite the blood still staining his shirt. He was still very dead though. Tory knew it. Dead is permanent. He could not change that.

Colin meanwhile killed the pilot from the chopper on the left and the gunner in the chopper on the right. The firing silenced. He was unable to keep this pace up. He was really pushing himself against his limit. Projecting his power was draining him and he was starting to feel very sick. Still he fought on.

"Finish the one on the right. Quickly before he gets in range with his guns." Colin ordered. Nathan turned the sluggish chopper and finished the gunnerless chopper with their own rockets moments before the pilot opened up.

It was too late when Colin noticed the last chopper coming in at the same time."I can't reach it, behind us! I can't reach it!" Colin yelled. Nathan knew this was it. In his bones he knew. He could sense it. Somehow he felt the inevitability of it as he slowly turned his craft and tried to doge what was soon to be a rain of steel. A barrage of missiles and bullets launched towards them from the rear. No maneuver, no strategy would stop it. The best he could buy was one second. One second remained between them and death.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hank saw it all happening. He watched the flankers circling in He saw them fire on his brother. He saw the single chopper circle behind to deliver the death blow. All the while he pushed his comanche as fast as it could go leaving his three pursuers in the dust. No matter how he pushed, he could not get in range in time. He saw the helicopter turn and aim.

This was it. Again he saw everything on the line before him. It was his choice who would live or die. One moment to make a decision.

"Do it. I'll see you on the other side," Nick said and the cobra fired.

No more time left. Hank covered the last thirty yards in a moment and pulled up between the two choppers and cut into the rain of bullets.

An explosion ripped the comanche apart as the rockets made contact an instant later.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"God no Hank..." Nathan whispered.

Tory saw all this. It overwhelmed him. So many died in one day all around him. Still through it all his hands remained so clean. Everyone was sacrificed to protect him. It was too much. Colin murdered for him, Nathan murdered for him, Hank murdered and died for him. _No, this can't be real. I can't let this keep happening_. _I have to do something. I can't let anyone else die. I can't let it happen again. _

Tory mind was racing even as the four choppers around them came in to finish the job. _No more._ _No more sitting around helpless. No more fucking loss, no more murder_. _No more pointless sacrifices. No more waiting for the world to end or make sense. _Tory stood up. "No more!" Tory yelled."You hear me Gaia, I said no more. I'm stopping this now. Whether you are going to help me or not. This ends now!"

A light glowed and emanated from Tory then. Colin saw it. It looked to him like the silhouette of an angel; his red hair reminding him of fire. The light pierced the cabin and made everything dim by comparison. Tory could now feel could feel Gaia's strength coursing through him. He could hear her with him. Tory could see it all now. The whole battle field was visible to him. _Four. No five. There is one coming in from the sky. _Tory closed his eyes and focused. _Thank you. Gaia, you wont be sorry you picked me. Give me all that you are right now. _Tory felt the power. It was all there at his will. He understood it now. He looked up at the dark clouds overhead and felt the presence behind them. _Lethe, you just watch me. It's all over now._

It was a wind. It began soft and warm. It turned the snow to rain as it blew. Soon it picked up speed and began to rotate gently around the helicopter. Faster and faster it blew churning up the ground below them. It grew fast still and drew the clouds into the growing cyclone. Starting out small, the cyclone grew outward and quickly consumed the four choppers blowing them around, but not killing the pilots. Tory was delicate, his power was great enough to protect everyone. The task easy.

"Fucking awesome! You have no idea how awesome this is." Tory said.

The F-22 pilot saw the malevolent storm and when the orders came to all fire on the growing cyclone, he did so willingly. Tory saw the missiles and bombs approaching and dismissed them with a thought, causing them to hit the ground harmlessly. Easily he twisted the air further so that the aircraft could approach no closer. Hank and Nick had ejected, Tory now saw. They were caught in the wind, but okay. Tory molded the air so they could land safely and healed their injuries.

The military was no longer a threat, but it was not enough. Tory felt the storm seeping in from the north all around the world. Now he would focus. He concentrated all his power and extended his wind as far as it would go. Around the wold it went and combined with Gaia's effort and beat back the storm. Slowly but steadily the clouds moved towards the highest north. Mile by mile, Lethe was beaten back. Faintly Tory felt her scream in rage. Her vow of vengeance resonated in the wind.

"Nathan, your brother and his friend are safe, but there something we need to do. I need to go to Antarctica. Can you make this happen?" Tory asked.

"He's alive? I really owe you one." Nathan said.

"He ejected a split second before his chopper got hit, he would have survived on his own. About Antarctica..." Tory said.

"Hank you sly dog. Yeah Antarctica, I just need a jet. I'll fly over to Maguire, its close." Nathan said. "Before we go, can we pick them up?"

"Sure. Let me deal with the choppers real quick." Tory focused again forced the choppers to the ground and twisted their blades once they had touched down.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Maguire Air Force Base was fifteen minutes away by helicopter. The air was warm and the clouds were gone when they touched down. The clear sky revealed rays and waves of orange and deep red scattered over the horizon as sun dipped lower. The winter twilight was unabashedly beautiful. Unfortunately, the moment was tainted and wasted by the trails of the day. With the night came more battles, and, Tory feared, more death.

Picking up a transport was easy enough. Tory made it impossible for anyone to approach or point a weapon at them. Tory knew that he was forgoing rescuing his parents again. He regretted that even now he could not spare the time to help them. For everyone's sake, he put his family on hold once again and focused on what needed to be done.

The five of them took off while Tory provided a generous tail wind. Ten thousand miles and six hours to go. It was the only peace they would have. No aircraft or missile could catch their pace. Colin fell asleep almost immediately. Tory got used to using his powers enough that he was able to sleep as well. A stable stalemate formed between Gaia, Tory, and Lethe. All three were spent and resting for the coming battle that would surely decide the fate of the future.

In the plane, the two boys cuddled as best they could in the military seats as Hank and Nathan flew them south. Nick was on the comms trying to figure out what the Pentagon was doing.

War with Musen, with the east, was culminating into a greater battle then anyone had anticipated. The United States was firm in its resolve to destroy the Gaia Project. Musen was likewise as firmly resolved to protect it as they weaponized it. Like the battle over New Jersey, the results of the Gaia research had created a formidable enemy the military was unable to equally match. Even without the power of Colin, Musen was able to hold its own and with the support of a rouge military force they had attracted, the battle was drawn into its forth hour. With the initial strike a failure, the military retreated to await reenforcement and formulate a second, hopefully decisive, wave.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Friday 6:58 AM EET(Eastern European Time)

The sun was just making itself known as Tory woke up. He could see the dark hues of blue were giving way to the the shades of day through the window. Tory felt disoriented and looked at his watch. It was a minute before midnight. Just six hours since New Jersey. The midnight sun. Colin stirred on Tory's shoulder and Tory could not help but feel his heart melt. Colin's beautiful body was curled up on his at perfect peace reminding Tory of the time he caught Colin sleeping in the library. The moment was perfect. No matter that Colin had cut off his circulation in an arm and his bladder protested any delay. Tory watched Colin sleep a few minutes more, before he finally relented.

Tory turned and kissed him lightly on the forehead. "Colin. Wake up, we're almost there," Tory whispered.

Colin stirred a bit more and Tory used his free arm to stroke his hair "Come on sleepy, we have to save the world." Colin woke slowly and smiled at the sight of Tory smiling sweetly at him. Love filled his heart.

"Kiss me Tory." Colin purred and Tory did so.

"Tory, if you're up, Hank needs to talk to you," Nick said from the row of seats behind him.

"Kay, one sec, bathroom," Tory said as he scampered off dragging the dead weight of his arm with him.

"Hey Colin, are you okay?" Nick asked.

"Yeah." Colin responded.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine," Colin said back getting a bit annoyed.

"Hey, its none of my business, but I saw how you were. You could barely move from the chopper to your seat. I'm just trying to make sure.."

"Just drop it. I'm fine." Colin wasn't going to let the man question his health now.

Nick was not phased. "Alright buddy. Look, I'm no good with kids, I was never sensitive enough to deal with their hormones so I'm going to tell you straight. You need to tell us exactly what you are capable of so when we go into whatever hell awaits us we will know exactly what our options are. So if you're good to go, great, but if you are hurt, exhausted, wounded or not fit for whatever reason, you better say something now because I sacrificed my team, my career, and my nation today and if I'm going to sacrifice my life, I damn well know beforehand."

Colin just stared at Nick. For a minute they just locked eyes, neither willing to relent. A teenager staring down a combat veteran and a combat veteran staring down a boy he had watched kill half his air wing. Tory came back down the aisle holding his arms as pins and needles shot through his nerves. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing," Colin said before Nick could answer. Nick simply turned his head and shrugged at Tory. Colin turned back in his seat and offered nothing else.

Tory knew something was up, but decided to deal with it later. "Oh...um, I'll go see what Hank wanted."

When Tory was out earshot Colin said, "I can't use it."

Nick's eyes went wide. "What?" Nick asked.

"My powers, I can't use them. I need more time or something. It hurts to focus. I don't... I don't know if it'll ever..." Colin was getting a little hysterical and choked up on the last few words.. Nick put his arm on Colin's shoulder. Colin melted under it. No one but Tory touched him in Colin's recent memory. While he preferred it to be Tory behind him at that moment, a part of him liked a more mature person to support him right then. "I have to. I can't let Tory down. I have to protect him. He wouldn't be in any of this if it wasn't for me."

Nick had no idea what the right words were right then. This was not Hank. There was no history here. This was some kid he had never spoken to opening his heart to him. Nick had to say something though. "You saw Tory, he's pretty powerful right now. Maybe he'll be the one to protect you this time."

"You don't understand." Clearly Colin was correct.

"Well, what am I missing then?" Nick asked.

Colin sighed and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling, compiling his thoughts into words. "He doesn't kill. Tory, I don't think he can kill anything. He is all love and heart and sure he gets angry sometimes but he is so forgiving and caring and I won't let anything change that. If I can't be there for him, he'll have to become a murderer just like me. Besides, the way his powers are, I don't think he could end this war alone. Someone will need to deliver a death blow. That someone needs to be me." Colin said.

"Colin, just tell Tory, we'll figure out whats going to happen.." Nick said.

"I know what needs to happen. I just need to be strong. I just need to keep fighting for him.." Colin said. He doubled his effort then to hold back tears that were threatening to form. He could not show Tory a weakness. Not now, not ever. "Just don't say anything." Colin paused and looked Nick right in the eye to make sure there was no mistake."Or I'll make sure you regret it." Taking his hand off Colin's shoulder, Nick weighed the threat and decided to wait for now.

The cockpit door opened and Nathan and Tory came through. Nathan spoke as he came down the aisle, "Tory gave us the landing coordinates and I wanted to make sure we all know that its not going to be a little difficult to land on the ice. We are about twenty minutes out at this speed so we are going to need a battle plan ASAP."

Tory broke in, "Colin, up until now, you've been fighting without any real help from Gaia. We are going to need to address that first because the way you have been until now, you'd pass out if you tried to do what you did at New Jersey."

"So what are we up against exactly, Tory?" Nathan asked.

"Lethe is up there. She physically lives about fifty feet below the surface as a pseudo spirit/persona according to Gaia. She's pretty powerful, at least as powerful as me, but there are limits. Her powers work a little like Colin's, but much more. While Colin can kill, she can not only kill, she can turn the elements against us. Since I woke up, I've been fighting her with Gaia. Thats whats going to make landing so hard. I'm sure I can handle it as long as we don't get too close. Which means that we need to cover some distance on foot. For now I'm having us go as fast as I can so I don't get drained before I get there."

"Pretty cold out there." Nick remarked. "Without gear, you wouldn't last fifteen minutes."

"You have no idea. She would kill us instantly if we just walked up to here." Tory said. "Thats why its going to just be me and Colin out on the ice. Combining our abilities will give us our best chance. More people is more to worry about. If we lose the plane or our pilots, we'll die anyway so I need everyone else to stay here."

"What if it doesn't work?" Nick asked. "What if the power fails or something?"

"Then we die. I don't know what to tell you. Thats it. We just have to trust it." Tory said. "Now Colin. I don't want you to worry about it okay? Don't do anything until the moment is right. I'll protect you until then." Colin only nodded. The finer points of the plan were being discussed, but Colin was unable to focus. He was feeling conflicted. Somewhere along the line Tory went from being the victim to being in charge. Now that Colin thought about it, Tory had always been calm and collective. All that time and energy that Colin spent hiding the truth from Tory only ended up hurting him, but when he told him it all, he handled it with no problem. When Colin got emotional, Tory was always able to diffuse the situation. When it seemed that all was lost, Tory always seemed to come up with a plan. When Colin's feelings were twisted by Dr. Reed, it was Tory who took control and stood up to him. Now Tory was more powerful than Colin too. So powerful, he didn't need to kill. He had protected the both of them without hurting anyone. Effortlessly at that. He was so powerful indeed that he had come out of all the mess that he had been through with a plan to survive and end it all. Here Colin was babbling about protecting Tory and even threatening people who were worried for him when he had no power anymore. He was just a dead weight dragging Tory behind. He had always been dragging him into situations, but now, he would finally drag him to death and there was nothing Colin could do to protect let alone support anyone. What made it worse was that Tory, through it all, still loved him. Colin felt lower than dirt then.

"Tory," Colin said. He could not bring his eyes up to meet Tory's.

"Yes love? Something wrong?" Tory said.

_Love._ "I...um.. I can't use my powers. I tried and.."

"Oh. One second. I can heal you. I didn't know you were that bad off. I though you were just tired." Tory said. Not three seconds later Tory said, "there. Try it again. Don't hurt anyone though."

Colin focused and he felt his abilities and instead of the headache that accompanied his last trials, he was relieved to feel power flowing freely through him. It was even stronger than before with all the time it went unused and how practiced Colin was getting.

"How is it?" Tory asked.

"Better than ever." Colin looked up and saw Tory's warm smile. The sunlight through his red hair resembled a glowing halo. _Beautiful. _Colin felt so ashamed. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I told you already. Like three times. Lethe attacked you I think. She attacked your powers. I had to fend her off to heal you. Just tell me if it happens again. I can't sense when stuff is wrong with you for some reason." Tory said. Colin nodded again. _He forgave me instantly. How can someone be so amazing? If I can't protect him, then the least I can do is always love him. I can do that much. Besides, he makes it so easy to love him._

"Thanks." Colin said and Tory responded by kissing his forehead causing the other teen to blush. "Can we go over the plan one more time please. I think I missed the last part. Something about a cave right?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nothing lived in the realm of Lethe, the Bringer of the Cold and the Dead. Nothing had for millions of years. No microbe, no stray penguin, no scientist, no adventurer, no aircraft. Her power was far too weak to spread the death over the world due to Gaia's four billion year lead, but for three miles from her cave, Lethe kept her realm entirely sterile, ironically, except her own life.

After one hundred and thirty two million years, three months, seven days, two hours, and nine minutes, her sterile peace remained intact. It was only now that Lethe was forced to draw back her guard. Only now was she forced to save her power and allow life to trespass.

_Gaia_

The war had come to this. A stalemate had been broken. Gaia had created her foot solders and sent them on the march. Closer they came with every labored step. Persistent and inevitable, like water breaking down stone. Gaia knew when to strike. The Antarctic summer was Lethe's most vulnerable time. The hole in the ozone that inexplicably centered over the south brought the rays of the sun directly on her realm. Was their no end to Gaia's treachery?

Lethe watched an waited. Her saved power building. The battle ahead would decide the fate of the world. Lethe would kill or be killed and she knew she would do all that was in her power to be the one doing the killing and like Gaia, Lethe knew where to strike.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Six hundred yards. Seven hundred steps to go. All uphill a slope that gradually increased the closer they got to the center of the mountain. Tory's warmth melted the snow he stepped on making it hard to climb with Colin huddled close to him against the cold. It was here they crossed a border. Tory could feel death in the still air or more accurately a lack of life. The air felt as if it had never been breathed. It was fresh and tasteless. No dirt or dust, just the pure air warmed by the power he emanated. They were deeply trespassing now. Not long now.

Five hundred steps to go. Colin listened for Gaia as Tory told him to desperately. He waited for the boost of power Tory had received, that Gaia had promised. No word yet. No surge of new power. Colin was starting to get anxious. _Does Gaia like to keep me worrying? _

Lethe's first strike came without warning.

AN: Working on this chapter took a while. So much happened in it and I didn't want to rush anything so alas, the story will go on. This time will definitely be the conclusion. This chapter didn't resolve any of the big problems, I know. It just set the stage for the big showdown. (Its summer finals week so college, as always, is taking a lot of time out of my day) Please oh please tell me about any mistakes or holes or whatnot and please review. I live off of reviews.


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